Nurlan Zakubov, Chairman of Kazakhstan Samruk Kasenna National Fund (hereinafter referred to as Saka Fund), recently stated in an interview with Xinhua News Agency in Astana that he hopes to have closer exchanges with China and achieve greater results together this year.
From February 10th to 13th, a delegation consisting of more than 30 well-known Chinese enterprises went to Astana and Almaty to participate in activities such as the China Kazakhstan Entrepreneurs Economic and Trade Fair. Chinese and Kazakh politicians and business leaders have had in-depth exchanges to explore the development potential of key cooperation areas such as oil and gas trade, clean energy, and e-commerce.
Zakubov said that Kazakhstan hopes to make full use of platforms such as the Astana International Forum, the China China Asia Summit, and the China Kazakhstan Entrepreneurs Committee to further enhance the frequency of talks with China and work together to achieve greater goals this year.
Data shows that the trade volume of goods between China and Kazakhstan will exceed 43.8 billion US dollars in 2024, a year-on-year increase of 6.8%. China’s investment stock in Kazakhstan is 24 billion US dollars, making it Kazakhstan’s largest trading partner.
Zakubov said that in 2013, under the witness of the heads of state of Kazakhstan and China, the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade and the Saka Fund jointly established the first bilateral business cooperation mechanism between China and Central Asian countries – the China Kazakhstan Entrepreneurs Committee. Last July, the two sides successfully held the seventh meeting of the China Kazakhstan Entrepreneurs Committee in Astana, with more than 70 Chinese enterprises coming to Kazakhstan. Enterprises and institutions from both countries signed 44 cooperation documents, with a total amount of 3.7 billion US dollars. There have been fruitful cooperation achievements in the fields of renewable energy, oil and gas, and industrial engineering.
Saka Fund’s subsidiaries and institutions are distributed in various pillar industries and financial service sectors in Kazakhstan. Zakubov said that China is an important trade and investment partner of Kazakhstan. The two countries have strong complementarity and high compatibility in terms of resource endowment, industrial structure, etc., and contain enormous potential for industrial and supply chain cooperation. Under the framework of jointly building the “the Belt and Road”, the two countries continue to deepen practical cooperation. As of now, there are over 4000 Chinese funded joint venture enterprises registered in Kazakhstan.
He said that a series of high-quality major projects for the joint construction of the “the Belt and Road” were launched in Kazakhstan, and major projects such as Turgusun Hydropower Station and the modernization of Shymkent Refinery were successfully completed and put into operation. The potential for cooperation between the two countries in various fields is constantly being released. The safe and stable operation of the China Kazakhstan crude oil pipeline and natural gas pipeline, the completion and opening of the Xi’an Land Port terminal, the “Double West Highway” and the China Europe freight train have enabled more and more high-quality green agricultural products from Kazakhstan to enter thousands of households in China.
But we will not lie on our existing achievements. Both Kazakhstan and China have set even greater goals for pragmatic cooperation for mutual benefit and win-win results, “Zakubov said.” Kazakhstan is eagerly looking forward to more cooperation with Chinese enterprises