Kazakhstan: Our strong bonds with Europe

Kazakhstan is a country of prisms, contrasts, and vectors. As a country, we are geographically immense.

We are an Asian nation, obviously, a few kilometres from China and at the gates of the Far East - but we are also Europe.

In Kazakhstan, Eurasia is more than a concept.

Last February, my country and the European Union, with which we - and I - have so many ties, celebrated 31 years of diplomatic relations. Thousands of European companies participate in the country's economy, and the EU has represented, in the last 20 years or so - 40% of international trade towards us and 45% of foreign investment.

During these past three decades, Kazakhstan has continued to strengthen its position as a reference partner of Europe in terms of not only energy but also trade, culture, agriculture, and sports.

And notably, within the natural resources economy.

As our Minister of Industry and Construction of the Republic of Kazakhstan, my admired and respected Kanat Sharlapaev, said recently in an interview that: "It is widely known that in uranium supplies, Kazakhstan has been reliable for many years to European partners, as well as in oil and conventional or carbon energy sources".

We are uniquely positioned to contribute with Europe on the Green Pact to drastically reduce fossil fuel imports by 2030.

As a businessman and an investor, Europe is always going to be very close to my top international priorities. I have launched in recent months investments in the green transition space in Europe - and we are putting a lot of work to grow from there.

As a Kazakh, I take pride that my country is described as the heart of Eurasia, and an example of energy and economic stability. But I also feel an enormous respect towards our European business partners and co-investors.

And I hope to cooperate even more with them, time and again.