Kazakhstan week in the European Union
Brussels, November 14, 2023 – Minister of Industry and Construction of the Republic of Kazakhstan Kanat Sharlapaev made a working visit to Brussels.
The purpose of the trip was to participate in the annual Raw Materials Week event organized by the European Commission, where Kazakhstan participates as a strategic partner of the European Union in the field of critical raw materials.
Signed in November 2022, the Memorandum of Understanding on Strategic Partnership on the Sustainable Value Chain for Raw Materials, Batteries and Green Hydrogen between Kazakhstan and the European Union opened a new chapter of Kazakh-European relations on sustainable minerals.
This meeting symbolizes a new stage in our relations with the EU. Kazakhstan expresses its full support for the European Union's aspirations for diversifying sustainable supplies of critical raw minerals. We are confident that our country can make a significant contribution to achieving this goal. Our Republic has all the necessary qualities, including the availability of raw materials, unique production capacities, and geographical proximitysaid Minister Sharlapaev.
In his welcoming speech, Bernd Schäfer, Chairman of the Board of EIT Raw Materials, noted that Kazakhstan is a reliable strategic partner in the field of critical raw materials.
During the event, Kazakhstan and the European Union confirmed their intention to develop mutually beneficial cooperation on critical raw materials, which plays a crucial role in the transition to low-carbon energy, as well as in various sectors, in renewable energy, digital technologies and healthcare. It was the main leitmotif of the negotiations of the Minister of Industry and Construction of the Republic of Kazakhstan K.Sharlapaev and Executive Vice-President of the European Commission Maroš Šefčovič
As part of the “Week of Raw Materials”, a business forum was organized on the topic “Strategic cooperation between the Republic of Kazakhstan and the EU” with the participation of the Minister of Industry and Construction of the Republic of Kazakhstan K. Sharlapaev and the Executive Vice-President of the European Commission Maroš Šefčovič
During the business forum, participants discussed a wide range of issues related to the development of bilateral cooperation in the field of critical raw materials, representatives of Kazakh and European companies presented their projects and services, Memorandums of technological cooperation were also signed between the Kazakh “Zhezkazganredmet” and the European “SGS Netherlands” and cooperation between “JSC National Geological Service” and “Xcalibur Multiphysics Group S.L”
Also were held B2B meetings, where entrepreneurs from the Republic of Kazakhstan and the EU were able to discuss prospects for cooperation and specific project proposals.
At the same time, senior officials of government of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the EU held a special G2G meeting, during which a detailed discussion took place on the implementation of the Roadmap as part of the implementation of the above Memorandum. In addition, representatives of EU member countries, in particular Germany, France, Finland, Italy, and Sweden, made presentations on the prospects for bilateral cooperation.
As part of the visit, Minister K. Sharlapaev took part in a conference on the topic “Strengthening relations between the EU and Kazakhstan - what role do trade and supplies of critical raw materials play?”, which was held at the site of the leading European news agency “Euractiv”, with the participation of members of the European Parliament and the expert community.
These events were organized with the assistance of the Embassy of the Republic of Kazakhstan in Belgium and the European Commission.
The European Union is the largest trading partner of Kazakhstan, with a total trade turnover of $40 billion in 2022. The volume of foreign direct investment from EU countries in the Kazakh economy in 2022 amounted to 12.5 billion US dollars. The main investments came from companies from European countries such as the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Cyprus, Luxembourg and Germany.
Kazakhstan has significant mineral reserves, many of which the country is one of the world's leading suppliers, and also has the capacity to produce about half of the 34 minerals considered critical to the EU. Kazakhstan already produces and processes 19 types of such materials, which are mainly exported to the USA, China, South Korea, EU member states and the UK.