“EU-KAZAKHSTAN: INNOVATION THROUGH COOPERATION” WORKSHOP
On 2 October 2015, Mr. Asset Issekeshev, Minister of Investments and Development of the Republic of Kazakhstan and Ms. Maria Cristina Russo, Director for International Cooperation at the Directorate-General for Research and Innovation of the European Commission, participated at the “EU-Kazakhstan: Innovation through cooperation” workshop in Astana, Kazakhstan, co-funded by the European Union and Kazakhstan, and attended by more than 60 representatives from Central Asian countries and EU member states.
Kazakhstan has started its cooperation with European Union’s Framework Programs 20 years ago in May 1995, when it signed a Cooperation Agreement with the EU.
“The EU-Kazakhstan Enhanced Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (EPCA), initialled on 20 January 2015, will greatly facilitate stronger bilateral political, economic and strategic relations. We look forward in using this new agreement to enhance our cooperation, including in the areas of research and innovation. In this regard, we encourage Kazakhstan's active participation in the "Horizon 2020" programme, the EU main tool in promoting closer cooperation in the field of research, innovation and energy”, said Maria Cristina Russo in her intervention.
Minister Asset Issekeshev underlined that “since 1992 almost 300 groups of our scientists and innovators took part in more than 250 projects and received more than 22 mln Euro as grants from various EU Framework Programmes. We highly appreciate that 20 years ago EU via INTAS helped us to preserve our scientific and innovative potential. We hope Horizon 2020 and our State Programme on Industrial Innovative Development 2014-2019 (SPIID) will let us move faster towards innovative and energy efficient future. Since 2014, within the aim to integrate into international innovation system we started supporting the national coordination centre for Horizon 2020 in Kazakhstan. Just yesterday, we took part in the Second International Policy Stakeholders Conference on Energy with participation of more than 100 delegates from ministries, state agencies and influential research institutions of 18 countries. There were representatives of Austrian Energy Agency, German Knowledge Innovation Centre – Inno Energy, the Icelandic National Energy Authority, Italian H2Power srl EdenEnergy and many others. Now when Kazakhstan is hosting an Astana EXPO 2017 our close and long-term cooperation with the European Union in research and innovation in light of recently successfully finished negotiations on EPCA will help us to make the exhibition a great success.”
Building on these fruitful discussions, parties agreed to forward substantive cooperation within "Horizon 2020", ERANET, European Enterprise Network, European Technological Platforms and Knowledge Innovation Clusters.
For further information, please, contactthe EU Delegation to Kazakhstan press and information officer Karlygash Jamankulova atkarlygash.jamankulova@eeas.europa.euand Sulushash Magziyeva, First Deputy Director, InExCB-KZ, H2020-NCP-KZ +77017331230,sulu@inexcbkz.com
For reference:The Policy Stakeholders conference has been organised by FP7 funded IncoNet-CA project and InExCB-KZ, Horizon 2020 hosting organisation in Kazakhstan. The EU-Kazakhstan: Innovation through cooperation workshop has been organised by the National coordination centre of Horizon 2020 in Kazakhstan with the support of MID RK and NATD.
Attachments:speakers’ bios, photographs, reference information.