Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and Olaf Scholz held extensive talks with the participation of members of official delegations.
The President underlined the special significance of the Chancellor's first official visit to our country and expressed confidence that today's meeting will take the multifaceted cooperation between Kazakhstan and Germany to a new level.
– We have just had a close discussion on the prospects for further strengthening of bilateral relations. Particular attention was paid to deepening trade, economic and investment integration. We also discussed current international issues, in particular exchanging views on the current geopolitical situation, global security and regional development, as well as climate change. The prospects for interaction in the framework of international organizations were also considered. Bilateral relations are developing in a spirit of strategic partnership. I am convinced that today's talks will contribute to the expansion of our contacts, – said Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.
As the Head of State noted, Germany is one of the main trade partners of Kazakhstan and is among the leading investors in our economy.
– Last year, bilateral trade turnover grew by almost 1.5 times to around $4 billion. This year has also seen positive dynamics. In the last seven months, the volume of mutual trade has exceeded 2.3 billion dollars. Since 2005, direct investments from Germany have amounted to about 6.7 billion dollars. It is pleasing to note that 90 per cent of these funds have been invested in the non-resource sector. Today, more than a thousand companies with German capital are operating in Kazakhstan, – the President emphasized.
In turn, the German Chancellor thanked Kassym-Jomart Tokayev for the hospitality he had received on Kazakh soil and noted the dynamic development of bilateral relations.
– We strive to do everything to improve conditions for our economic relations, to make direct investments in your country, to expand opportunities for mutual trade. Of course, we want to develop economic cooperation in all other areas. We are very happy that we are progressing steadily in energy cooperation. We have established trustful and consistent cooperation, which is a good example for the whole world. It is gratifying that we also discussed important international challenges that we are facing, – Olaf Scholz said.
The two sides confirmed their interest in enhancing mutually beneficial trade and economic cooperation, especially in the areas of energy, green transformation, mining, transportation and logistics, climate protection, environment and agriculture.
Prospects for strengthening cultural and humanitarian ties between Kazakhstan and Germany were also discussed.
In conclusion, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz adopted a Joint Declaration of Cooperation between the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Federal Republic of Germany.
The following documents were signed by the members of the official delegations:
1. Memorandum of Understanding on Technical Central Bank Cooperation between The Deutsche Bundesbank and The National Bank of Kazakhstan;
2. Memorandum of Intent to establish the Kazakh-German Institute of Science and Technology at the East Kazakhstan Technical University named after Serikbayev between the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Federal Republic of Germany;
3. Memorandum of Intent to establish a Kazakh-German School between the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Samruk-Kazyna JSC, Kazakhstan Association of Germans “Wiedergeburt” and the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Federal Republic of Germany.