Kazakh-German Economic Cooperation at Focus of Video-Conference Held between Kazakhstan’s Deputy Prime Minister Roman Sklyar and German Business Representatives

On April 21, 2020 an online meeting between Roman Sklyar, the Deputy Prime Minister of Kazakhstan, and Almas Aidarov, the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan, took place with representatives of over 50 German companies. The video conference was organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Embassy of Kazakhstan in Germany of Germany, and NC Kazakh Invest JSC with the support of the German Eastern Business Association (Osteuropaverein der deutschen Wirtschaft, OAOEV). The meeting was attended by Dauren Karipov, the Ambassador of Kazakhstan to Germany, Tilo Klinner, the Ambassador of Germany to Kazakhstan, Michael Harms, OAOEV Executive Director, Hovsep Voskanyan, the Head of the Representative Office of the German Economy in Central Asia, as well as deputy heads of the Ministries of Industry and Infrastructure Development, Energy, Agriculture, Digital Development, Innovation and Aerospace Industry, Education and Science, national companies and quasi-state Sector of the Republic of Kazakhstan. The German business community was represented at the level of CEOs and executives of leading companies such as Linde Group, Schaeffler AG, Siemens AG, Volkswagen AG, Deutsche Bahn AG, Deutsche Bank AG, Bayer AG, Commerzbank AG, Claas Group, Deutsche Lufthansa AG, SAP SE, Rhenus Logistics, Knauf Gips and others.

The online meeting was a logical continuation of the steadfast efforts to enhance trade, economic and investment cooperation between the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Federal Republic of Germany, which had received additional impetus during the visits of the President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev to Germany in December 2019 and February 2020.

The main topic of the meeting was dedicated to the Kazakh government’s measures to minimize the negative economic consequences of the coronavirus pandemic and to support business with preferential tax regimes, financial and non-financial measures. In his speech, Roman Sklyar noted that quarantine measures limiting the movement of people and cargo, the export of certain types of food products, the operation of enterprises and others sectors were temporary and designed to safeguard the lives and health of people. He also stressed that investment cooperation with Germany remains a strategic priority and that all agreements reached with the German side are still in force.

During the meeting Almas Aidarov and the representatives of sectoral ministries delivered a detailed report on investment opportunities in Kazakhstan. Special attention was paid during to ongoing and planned investment projects in various sectors of the Kazakh economy. A Q&A session followed at the conclusion of the meeting, during which representatives of the Kazakh government addressed questions raised by the German business community. In their speeches, representatives of German companies noted the necessity of holding regular meetings of this kind to discuss topical cooperation issues.

For reference: Roman Sklyar, Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Kazakhstan, is the head of the Government Working Group on Interaction with German Investors, which comprises representatives of ministries and regions in charge of investments.

This Advisory Body was established by Decree of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev with a view to strengthening investment relations between the two countries, following his official visit to Germany in December 2019.

The Governmental Working Group is constantly monitoring interaction with German investors, projects development with the use of German capital, as well as facilitating prompt projects implementation while offering a wide range of state support measures.