ASTANA – President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev began the second day of his official visit to Germany in Munich on Sept. 30 with a series of meetings with senior executives of Siemens AG, Linde and Aurubis AG, focusing on industrial modernization, technological cooperation and new investment projects.
Photo credit: Akorda
During a meeting with Bernd Ulbricht, vice president for commercial and financial affairs at Siemens AG, Tokayev described Siemens as an important partner for Kazakhstan, noting that its expertise in industrial digitalization, electrification, mobility and smart infrastructure aligns with the country’s economic modernization priorities.
Tokayev welcomed a joint project between Siemens and Kazakhstan’s Silk Road Electronics to modernize equipment at the Qarmet metallurgical plant. He emphasized Kazakhstan’s interest not only in acquiring advanced equipment but also in establishing local manufacturing, engineering and service capabilities, reported Akorda.
The officials also discussed opportunities to apply Siemens technologies in modernizing Kazakhstan’s energy and utilities sectors, environmental monitoring, medical technologies and data center infrastructure.
In a separate meeting with Oliver Pfann, senior vice president at Linde, Tokayev welcomed the company’s plans for new projects in Kazakhstan with potential investments of up to $500 million. The officials noted an agreement between Linde and Qarmet to build a new air separation unit in Temirtau and discussed prospects for cooperation in the petrochemical industry.
Tokayev also highlighted Linde’s carbon capture and storage and hydrogen infrastructure technologies, inviting the company to participate in projects in the petrochemical and chemical clusters in the Atyrau and Mangystau Regions.
During talks with Fritz Vahrenholt, chairman of the Supervisory Board of Aurubis AG, the officials discussed potential investment projects in Kazakhstan’s mining and metallurgical sector. Tokayev emphasized the country’s priority of moving from a raw-material model toward deeper metals processing, advanced technologies and higher value-added production.
The discussions covered processing complex copper-bearing raw materials, recovering associated metals and recycling and localizing downstream production. Particular attention was given to cooperation between Tau-Ken Samruk and Aurubis on processing copper scrap and technogenic mineral formations in Kazakhstan, with the sides considering a joint action plan for prospective projects.
Kazakhstan-Germany cooperation in education and science
During a meeting with German university rectors and research institute heads on Sept. 30, Tokayev called for stronger cooperation between Kazakhstan and Germany in education, research, technology transfer and artificial intelligence.
Tokayev highlighted growing academic ties, noting that 45 Kazakh universities cooperate with around 100 German partners, while nearly 2,000 Kazakh students study in Germany.
He proposed expanding joint education and dual-degree programs, scientific research and technology transfer. He also invited German businesses to establish engineering laboratories and technology transfer centers at joint institutions in Kazakhstan.
Tokayev said cooperation should increasingly connect universities, research and industry and focus on developing technologies and products with higher added value.
