Caspian Cooperation Discussed at International Forum in Berlin

BERLIN, 1 October 2020 -- The Ambassador of Kazakhstan to Germany, Dauren Karipov, took part in the 1st Caspian Europe Forum, organized by Maleki Corporate Group in partnership with the World Bank, the German Eastern Business Association, as well as trade chambers and associations from Central Asia, the Caucasus, and Russia. Within the framework of the hybrid event (which took place in-person and online), invited speakers discussed business opportunities for European SMEs and the Caspian littoral states in the spheres of energy, transport logistics, and sustainable development. These new opportunities opened up as a result of the signing in August 2018 in Aktau of the Convention on the Legal Status of the Caspian Sea. 

Kazakhstan's point of view was presented  by the Vice Minister of Industry  and Infrastructural Development, Mr. Ruslan Baimishev, who delivered a video address on the topic of "The Caspian Region and Its Role in the Global Economy", the Director of the Green Finance Intelligence Department of the AIFC Green Financial Center, Ms. Aigul Kussaliyeva, as well as experts on finance and digital economy. 

In their remarks the Kazakh participants drew the attention of European SMEs to the efficiency of Kazakhstan's transportation networks for delivering cargo between Asia and Europe, to the various aspects of the country's technological modernization and development of its transportation potential within the framework of the Nurly Zhol programme and the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative. 

The Forum provided a special perspective on issues relating to intra-regional cooperation, from prospects for collaborating on diversifying transportaiton and energy links in and around the Caspian Sea and re-thinking Eurasian integration processes within the framework of the EU Strategy for Economic Connectivity with Asia, to the search for concerted approaches to implementing specific projects.

The 1st Caspian Europe Forum drew the attention of a large number of officials and private sector representatives from Germany and other EU Member States. Also of note was the number and high level of the Forum's participants, many of whom participated in the discussions via video link, as well as the substantive remarks of invited speakers.