Kazakh-French talks in Paris held in the spirit of strategic partnership
PARIS, October 1, 2019 — The mutual stance of Kazakhstan and France on further strengthening their strategic partnership was confirmed during negotiations involving the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan Roman Vassilenko in Paris on September 30-October 1 2019.
At the meeting with the Secretary of State of the Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs of France and co-chair of the Kazakh-French Intergovernmental Commission on Economic Cooperation Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne, the parties discussed a vast range of methods and platforms for bilateral and multilateral cooperation.
Mr. Vassilenko, who represented Kazakhstan at the official funeral service for former President of France Jacques Chirac, conveyed the condolences from President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, emphasizing the special place of this outstanding politician in the history of international relations and his significant contribution to the development of relations between Kazakhstan and France.
The focus of the negotiations was on further expanding the bilateral strategic partnership across all key areas. Separately, the progress in the implementation of priority projects was examined in regards to the preparation for the visit of French President Emmanuel Macron to Kazakhstan in the near future, which will give a new impetus to cooperation.
Mr. Vassilenko reiterated Kazakhstan’s commitment to expanding the spectrum of interaction, including such new areas as digitalization, agriculture, and alternative energy. Two investment forums held in France this year by the Embassy of Kazakhstan were mentioned as recent positive examples of work in these areas: the forum on digitalization and alternative energy in Cannes in March, and the forum on agriculture and agro-industry in Rennes in September, as well as the upcoming investment forum in Paris on October 8, in which Deputy Prime Minister of Kazakhstan Roman Sklyar will participate. These events stimulated substantial interest among the French business community and became an excellent platform for establishing business contacts.
The parties noted the desire to strengthen cooperation across the transport, energy, nuclear and aerospace industries, as well as the so-called decentralized partnership between the regions of the two countries. Today, France is among the top five key trade and investment partners of Kazakhstan. Over the past ten years, mutual trade has reached more than $50 billion. Also, a number of large joint investment projects have been implemented between the two countries in the uranium, oil and gas, and titanium industries, and in the sphere of transport engineering, production of building materials, and food, which has included more than $15 billion of French investments. In general, over 130 French-invested companies are operating in Kazakhstan, including such large TNCs as Total, Orano, Alstom, Danone, and Vicat.
It was emphasized that the rapprochement of the French and Kazakh peoples is greatly facilitated by the expansion of humanitarian contacts and cultural, educational, and scientific cooperation. Among the most important bilateral projects, the events taking place in France under the auspices of the Ruhani Zhangyru National Programme as a part of the cultural ‘Kazakh Autumn in France’ season were been mentioned. These events include performances by the Kazakh State Academic Theatre of Opera and Ballet named after Abay, a concert of the Nur-Sultan Symphony Orchestra, a week of Kazakhs cinema, art and photography exhibitions, presentation of anthologies of modern Kazakh poetry and prose translated into French, and folk music concerts.
Both Nur-Sultan and Paris attach great importance to expanding cooperation in education. In 1992, the Bolashak Scholarship Programme was introduced by the First President and Leader of the Nation Nursultan Nazarbayev. Since 2014, the Sorbonne-Kazakhstan Institute has been operating in Kazakhstan. Last year, the Kazakh-French Abay-Verne Scholarship was established.
Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne, as a member of the French government, praised the dynamic cooperation with Kazakhstan across all areas, confirming the strong interest of Paris in further developing the mutually beneficial partnership.
The talks focused significantly on the positive relations between Central Asian states and the implementation of the new EU Strategy for the region.
Work on joint projects was considered in more detail during the meetings of Mr. Vassilenko with Director of Continental Europe Directorate at the French Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs Frédéric Mondoloni and Special Representative of the French Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs for Economic Diplomacy in Central Asia Pascal Lorot.
At meetings with Chairperson of the France-Central Asia Friendship Group of the Senate of the Parliament Nathalie Goulet and Chairman of the France-Kazakhstan Friendship Group at the National Assembly of the Parliament Pierre Cabaret, the parties confirmed the significance and effectiveness of inter-parliamentary relations in promoting bilateral political dialogue and decentralized cooperation.
During the visit, Mr. Vassilenko also gave interviews to a number of French press representatives, where he spoke about current social and economic reforms, foreign policy initiatives of the country's leadership, and priorities in economic development that will open up new opportunities for cooperation with France and its business community.
Photo (c) The Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs of France