Economic cooperation and development assistance cooperation between Kazakhstan and Slovakia is growing

BRATISLAVA, December 14, 2021 – Ambassador of Kazakhstan in Bratislava Roman Vassilenko and Director General of the Section for economic and development cooperation of the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of Slovakia Lucia Kišš discussed today prospects for further development of economic cooperation and cooperation in official development assistance (ODA) between Kazakhstan and Slovakia at an online meeting.

During the meeting, the parties noted with great pleasure that, despite the pandemic, the level of bilateral trade and economic relations in 2021 showed positive dynamics, investment activities are developing. For example, Slovak company Colosseo EAS launched the reconstruction of the “Kazakhstan” Sports Palace on the basis of an agreement with the Akimat of Nur-Sultan on the principles of public-private partnership, while new business contacts are being successfully established.

At the same time, the interlocutors emphasized the October 11 visit of Minister of Foreign and European Affairs of Slovakia Ivan Korčok to Nur-Sultan at the head of a representative delegation of official and business circles, should provide an impetus to further active development of mutually beneficial trade and economic cooperation.

In this context, the parties agreed to continue the work on these issues within the framework of the Intergovernmental Commission on Economic, Scientific and Technical Cooperation, whose next 9th meeting is to be held in March next year in Slovakia, as well as to prepare political and economic consultations between the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of the two countries in Kazakhstan.

In light of a Memorandum between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of the Slovak Republic on cooperation in the field of official development assistance (ODA), signed during the visit of the Slovak minister, the interlocutors discussed the practical content of this memorandum. In particular, they talked about some specific projects of cooperation between the relevant agencies KazAID and SlovakAid with a focus on assisting the countries of Central Asia.