ASTANA – Kazakhstan and the European Union have agreed to strengthen cooperation in critical raw materials on the sidelines of the 13th international congress Astana Mining & Metallurgy held on June 1-2, reported the Ministry of Industry and Infrastructure Development.
Photo credit: gov.kz.
Minister of Industry and Infrastructure Development Marat Karabayev and Vice President of the European Commission Maroš Šefčovič also discussed implementing the first roadmap of the memorandum of understanding and possible EU funding tools to support cooperation in critical raw materials and batteries.
Karabayev informed that one of the major joint projects the EU has launched is the investment of the German company HMS Bergbau AG in developing lithium deposits in Kazakhstan.
“Today, we have prospects for launching projects for extracting and processing new types of critical and battery raw materials,” said Karabayev.
Kazakhstan covers 71% of the European phosphorus market, supplying titanium, beryllium, tantalum, rhenium, and vanadium.
The strategic partnership roadmap outlines concrete steps for cooperation on integrating sustainable value chains for critical raw materials and batteries, developing green hydrogen, improving the sustainability of supply chains, researching, innovating, and skills and talent building.
“We adhere to the one principle of ‘raw materials in exchange for technology,’” added the minister.
During the international conference Sustainable Energy in Kazakhstan: Prospects and Challenges on June 2, Šefčovič awarded the winners of the EU’s #Reels4SustainableEnergy contest designed to promote the environmental and economic benefits of saving energy, facilitate energy efficiency, increase public awareness of the need to scale up the use of renewable energy, and to foster the creative capacity of young people.
The works of Rakhmangylych Annageldyyew from Turkmenistan, Aisuluu Kolbaeva from the Kyrgyz Republic, and Aruzhan Yerzhanova, Arman Makhambetov, Mukhit Askaruly, and Darkhan Zhaliyev from Kazakhstan were selected out of the 67 reels from across the region.
Šefčovič also awarded Zhuldyz Serikova and Medgat Mussayev of Kazakhstan for the best Sustainable Energy Mural Design, the EU’s other contest to raise awareness of the need to switch to green energy and energy efficiency.
The main prize Šefčovič announced is a study tour to Europe to learn about the European experience in renewable energy, energy efficiency, and sustainable energy transition.
The conference took place as part of the third International Congress Carbon Neutrality Pathways organized by the ECOJER Association of Regional Environmental Initiatives in close cooperation with the EU-funded project Sustainable Energy Connectivity in Central Asia and with the support of the Kazakh Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources.
