Roman Sklyar, Deputy Prime Minister of Kazakhstan, and Heads of More than 50 German Companies participate in Web-Conference

BERLIN, 20 May 2020 - Roman Sklyar, the Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Kazakhstan, and heads of German companies have participated in a web-conference organized by the Embassy of Kazakhstan in Germany, the Investments Committee of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan, and JSC NC Kazakh Invest with the support of the German Eastern Business Association. The online event was devoted to enhancing bilateral industrial cooperation, especially in the field of mechanical engineering, as well as the practical implementation of agreements reached during meetings between the President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and German businesses executives in December 2019 and February 2020.

The web conference was attended by executives and epresentatives of over 50 leading German companies, including Henkel AG & Co. KGaA, Herrenknecht AG, Infineon Technologies AG, Weidmüller Interface GmbH & Co. KG, Knauf International GmbH, METRO AG, WILO Group, and Lufthansa Group. Kazakhstan was  represented by its Deputy Foreign Minister Almas Aidarov, as well as the heads of the Ministry of Infrastructure and Industrial Development, the Association of Kazakhstan Machinery Industry, "Kazakhstan Center for Industry and Export (QazIndustry), KTZ Passenger Transportation and other entities.

Deputy Prime Minister Roman Sklyar briefed the conference participants on unprecedented measures taken by the Kazakh Government to preserve and protect the health of Kazakh citizens, support their income and job security, and also to mitigate negative economic consequences of the coronavirus pandemic. He also noted that special attention in the post-crisis delopment period will be focused on diversifying Kazakhstan's economy and creating new industrial productions to take advantage of the country's sizable raw materials base.

Klaus Rosenfeld, Chairman of the Board of Schaeffler AG, spoke from Germany's side and stressed the importance of promoting comprehensive trade, economic and investment cooperation between Kazakhstan and Germany. He also reported on measures to minimize the negative impact of the COVID-19 crisis on the German industry as a whole.

During the online meeting Meyram Pshembaev, Chairman of the Board of the Association of Kazakhstan Machinery Industry, gave a briefing on the activities of his organization, which comprises among its members more than 540 machinery enterprises , including companies with German equity. In his statement, he particularly stressed the development prospects of the machinery sector in Kazakhstan, implementation of the 2019-2024 Road Map and establishment of the Industrial Development Fund.

A Q&A session followed at the conclusion of the web conference, during which the participants spoke in favor of intensifying trade and economic contacts, discussed a number of practical issues and agreed to hold such meetings regularly in the future.