Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and Emmanuel Macron held extended talks with the participation of official delegations of the two states.
The Kazakh President underlined that the first visit of the French leader to Astana will give a strong impetus to the development of bilateral relations and will bring multifaceted cooperation to a qualitatively new level.
– France is an important and reliable partner for Kazakhstan in the European Union. Last year, mutual trade turnover grew by 30 percent and reached $4 billion. In the first eight months of this year, the volume of bilateral trade increased by 21 percent compared to last year, totalling $2.7 billion, – the President said.
According to Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, France has invested about $18.7 billion in Kazakhstan’s economy. Joint projects are being implemented in the energy, construction, aerospace, pharmaceutical, mining, chemical and machine-building industries.
Kassym-Jomart Tokayev emphasized the personal contribution of the President of France to the development of mutually beneficial relations and reaffirmed Kazakhstan's readiness to further strengthen cooperation for the benefit of the peoples of both countries.
During the talks, the sides also pointed out priority areas for further cooperation, including green energy, logistics, transit, agriculture, healthcare, digitalization and education.
During his speech, the Kazakh leader focused on enhancing cultural relations by emphasizing the importance of promoting French language and culture within Kazakhstan.
In turn, Emmanuel Macron noted that our countries are celebrating the 15th anniversary of the Strategic Partnership Agreement and reaffirmed France's commitment to further strengthening bilateral ties in various areas of mutual interest.
– I believe that our economic relations, including in agriculture, energy and renewable energy, will be given a new impetus. We are encouraging investment both in ongoing projects and in new initiatives. Our cultural and humanitarian cooperation is also developing dynamically. Specific agreements have been reached in the fields of education and science. From September 2024, a Kazakh-French university is planning to start its work, – said the President Macron.
The two leaders also expressed the importance of positive and sustained interaction on key issues on the regional and global agenda and noted the need to deepen dialogue through international organizations.
