ASTANA – Kazakh and Dutch businesses signed investment agreements worth more than 450 million euros (US$436 million) at the Kazakh-Dutch investment roundtable in Astana on Oct. 11, reported the Kazakh Invest.
Photo credit: Kazakh Invest.
The event gathered more than 100 delegates including Dutch companies, the Kazakh Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Embassy of Kazakhstan in the Netherlands.
The Netherlands is one of Kazakhstan’s major investors. The inflow of investments from the Netherlands has amounted to $23.7 billion since 2011. The volume of FDI from the Netherlands to Kazakhstan amounted to $3.3 million in the first half of 2022. As of Oct. 1, approximately 680 companies with Dutch capital operate in the country.
Ambassador of the Netherlands to Kazakhstan Andre Carstens, said the event will make a significant contribution to ensuring the mutual development of both economies, assist in diversifying and facilitating working conditions, as well as creating better conditions for business in the two countries thanks to the roundtable.
According to the Investment Committee Chair at the Kazakh Foreign Ministry Ardak Zhebeshev, potential investors had the opportunity to explore opportunities to expand their cooperation with Kazakhstan in the agribusiness sector through livestock, poultry, meat, and milk production and greenhouse development sessions.
Overall, five memoranda and agreements of understanding and cooperation have been signed during the forum. It includes the agreements between the Ministry of Healthcare and Philips company, Dutch Clean Tech and Kazakh Invest, the Ministry of Agriculture of the Netherlands and the State Commission for Crop Variety Testing of the Ministry of Agriculture of Kazakhstan, the Kazakh Institute of Botany and Phytointroduction and Rijk Zwaan Breeding.
Vice President of Global Government and Public Affairs of Royal Philips Jan-Willem Scheijgrond recognized Kazakhstan’s readiness to provide high-quality medical services. He emphasized the government’s efforts in this direction and expressed readiness to implement joint projects with Kazakhstan.
Cooperation with Royal Philips will be an important step in improving the healthcare sector in Kazakhstan and create a platform for the exchange of experience in digitalization of medicine.
The Dutch company Lely International NV will also invest in the establishment of the automated dairy farm in the Pavlodar region. The company provides agricultural products and solutions and produces milking robots. A Lely robotic milking system can milk 60 cows with one robot or more.
