ASTANA – The Astana Times has made a selection of articles on Kazakhstan featured in international media worldwide this week. Today’s foreign media digest covers Kazakhstan’s efforts to deepen its strategic partnership with the European Union, advance the development of the Middle Corridor transport route, attract major European investment, and expand cooperation with China in the energy and minerals sectors.
Astana. Photo credit: The Astana Times
Kazakhstan and the European Union: Building the next chapter of a strategic partnership
The partnership between Kazakhstan and the EU is more important today than ever before, writes President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev in an opinion article for Euronews on June 22, identifying three key strategic objectives to build the next chapter of a strategic partnership.
“Specifically, the next chapter of Kazakhstan-EU cooperation should aim at three key strategic goals for both partners: strengthening resilience, expanding connectivity of all kinds, and creating new opportunities for citizens. This is necessary because previous geopolitical assumptions no longer hold. Geography and power are making a comeback.
Resurgent competition is rapidly reshaping trade, technology and investment flows. Global supply chains are newly vulnerable. Trade and economic interdependence now fall prey to national security.
As Europe knows well, in such circumstances, countries can either retreat into rival blocs or build new partnerships of mutual respect and shared interest.
Kazakhstan knows this too: our geography places us at the intersection of continents; our foreign policy seeks to connect them,” Tokayev wrote.
EU and Kazakhstan strengthen their strategic partnership; von der Leyen: The country is a gateway to the world
EU News released an article on June 23 about the deepening strategic partnership between the European Union and Kazakhstan, marked by new agreements on transport, aviation, critical raw materials, investment, and visa facilitation aimed at boosting connectivity, trade, and economic cooperation between Europe and Central Asia.
“At the meeting in Brussels, the European Union and Kazakhstan signed a joint strategic declaration and several agreements covering connectivity, critical raw materials, transport, and investment cooperation, reflecting the EU’s efforts to strengthen economic ties with Kazakhstan and expand its presence in Central Asia through the Global Gateway strategy,” reads the article.
Tokayev: Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and Georgia developing unified tariff model for Middle Corridor
Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, and Georgia are working on the creation of a unified long-term tariff model as part of efforts to develop the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said during a meeting with Eduard Sigrist, Vice President of Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC), according to Report article published on June 24.
Tokayev said that alongside the development of a unified tariff model, the three countries are implementing a number of key infrastructure projects, including the expansion of the cargo fleet on the Caspian Sea, dredging operations in cooperation with Azerbaijan, and the modernization of the Kuryk port.
Kazakhstan and EU deepen strategic ties with $12 billion in new deals
Kazakhstan and the European Union are strengthening their strategic partnership after signing commercial agreements worth more than $12 billion during President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev’s visit to Brussels, reported Caspian News on June 24.
The agreements mark a major step forward in economic cooperation, highlighting growing European confidence in Kazakhstan’s economy and reform agenda. In a statement issued on Tuesday, Tokayev said the economic outcomes of the visit, including commercial agreements and memorandums worth more than $12 billion, reflect strong confidence among European businesses.
The announcement came as Tokayev addressed the Kazakhstan-EU Business Forum, where Kazakh business leaders and government officials met with representatives of European industries and financial institutions to discuss trade, investment, and future cooperation.
China, Kazakhstan target deeper ties in minerals and energy at Summer Davos
China and Kazakhstan have reiterated a desire for closer cooperation in energy, with both sides seeking to build on Belt and Road Initiative projects that have turned the Central Asian nation into a key transit hub between China and Europe, reported South China Morning Post on June 24.
In a meeting between Premier Li Qiang and Kazakh Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov in Dalian, Liaoning province, Beijing expressed its willingness to work with Astana on deepening cooperation in energy and mineral resources.
