Kazakhstan and Belgium intend to strengthen cooperation

BRUSSELS, May 19, 2021 - Appointed Ambassador of Kazakhstan to Belgium, Margulan Baimukhan met with Director of the Department for Eastern and South-Eastern Europe, Central Asia of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Belgium, Mr. Luc Libaut, during which the parties discussed the current state and prospects of the Kazakh-Belgian cooperation in bilateral and multilateral formats.

The political reforms initiated by the President of Kazakhstan, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev within the framework of the concept of a «Hearing state», became a separate topic of the conversation with the Belgian representative. Mr.Libaut gave a positive assessment of the innovations put forward by the Head of State.

In the context of economic diplomacy, the interlocutors discussed the prospects for cooperation in agriculture and consumer industry. The parties also welcomed the upcoming visit of Belgian enterprises to Kazakhstan, planned in autumn 2021 with support of the Belgian investment agencies AWEX and FIT.

In the field of vaccine development cooperation, the diplomats exchanged information on the ongoing vaccination in Kazakhstan and Belgium. M.Baimukhan conveyed to his Belgian colleague details about the Kazakhstani vaccine «QazVac».

The sides also discussed interaction in multilateral platforms, such as the EU and OSCE, as well as the outcome of the 18th Meeting of the Cooperation Council «Republic of Kazakhstan - the European Union», held on May 10, 2021 in Brussels.

Following the meeting, the parties agreed to develop Kazakh-Belgian relations in various directions, and outlined joint plans to increase interaction between the two countries.

In 2005-2020, the volume of Belgian investment in the economy of Kazakhstan amounted to 8.9 billion USD. In 2020, the volume of trade between Kazakhstan and Belgium decreased by 8% compared to 2019 and amounted to USD 322 million. There are 75 companies registered in Kazakhstan with the participation of Belgian capital, which are implementing a number of projects in the field of renewable energy sources, the production of chemical products, and the supply of medical equipment for oncology clinics.