ASTANA – Kazakh and Japanese officials and business executives explored opportunities in green and digital transformation during a Jan. 12 business forum in the Kazakh capital, reported Atameken National Chamber of Entrepreneurs.
Photo credit: The Astana Times.
Raimbek Batalov, the chairman of the Atameken chamber, offered Japanese partners opportunities for cooperation in priority industrial sectors, such as advanced metal processing, oil, gas, petrochemical industries, tourism, ecology, mining, agro-industrial complex and others.
He also noted that Kazakhstan is a country of high investment attractiveness with a favorable business climate, simplified tax regime, improved national legislation, and expanded package of investment benefits and preferences. Investors implementing projects in priority sectors of the economy are guaranteed stability and predictability of tax legislation.
Photo credit: atameken.kz
Naoshi Hirose, co-chair of the Japan-Kazakhstan Committee for Economic Cooperation, noted that there are great prospects for economic relations between the two states.
“Green and digital transformations are new areas for our cooperation related to climate change. This is a common task for humanity, for the solution of which Japanese advanced technologies and the potential of Kazakhstan can be combined. I am sure that there are good joint promising projects ahead, relating not only to digital transformation in the IT sector, but to the use of information technologies to solve social problems,” he said.
During the forum, the sides signed a number of agreements, including memorandum of understanding on joint research and development of new applications using satellites for monitoring natural disasters and infrastructure and memorandum of cooperation between the Kazakh Chamber of International Commerce and the Japan-Kazakhstan Committee for Economic Cooperation.
Kazatomprom National Atomic Company signed a memorandum of understanding with Furukawa Electric Power Systems Co. and Sumitomo Corporation Power & Mobility Co. to implement a pilot project for a test launch of equipment and technology at production facilities, which will automate the prevention of snow formation and frost deposits on overhead power lines, according to the company’s press service.
Kazakh Minister of Trade and Integration Arman Shakkalieyv held a meeting with a delegation from Japan led by State Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Ryosuke Kozuki.
The parties addressed prospects for trade and economic cooperation, including the possibility of increasing bilateral trade.
Shakkaliyev emphasized that Japan is one of the 10 largest investors in Kazakhstan. The volume of Japanese investment over the past 17 years has exceeded $7.8 billion. In January-November 2023, mutual trade turnover increased by 16.5% compared to the same period of the previous year and reached $2 billion.
“We see the potential to expand the export of Kazakh products and are ready to increase the supply of 45 items of processed goods worth $204 million. Kazakhstan has all the resources to become a major agricultural and food hub. There are great opportunities in the supply of agricultural products, notably, horse meat,” said Shakkaliyev.
