Astana, 2 November 2023 (TDI): The President of Kazakhstan, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, and the President of France, Emmanuel Macron held talks on November 1, with the participation of the official delegations of the two countries in an expanded meeting over fortifying their bilateral relations in multiple fields.
The President of Kazakhstan, during the meeting, highlighted France to be an important and reliable partner of Kazakhstan in the European Union, and he also set forth that due to the economic cooperation with France, for the eight months of this year, the volume of bilateral trade increased by 21% compared to last year, that is, it amounted to 2.7 billion dollars.
In this context, he also highlighted that France has previously invested about 18.7 billion dollars in the Kazakhstan economy.
He also appraised the joint projects initiated by the two countries in the fields of energy, construction, aerospace, pharmaceuticals, mining and chemical industry, and engineering.
President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev also appraised President Macron’s personal contribution to the development of mutually beneficial relations between the two countries.
Besides that, the Kazakh President paid special attention to the development of cultural ties for promoting the French culture and language in Kazakhstan.
In turn, President Emmanuel Macron notified the 15th anniversary of the adoption of the Agreement on Strategic Partnership between the two countries and confirmed that France intends to further strengthen bilateral relations in various areas of mutual interest.
In this regard, the French President shared the readiness to further strengthen the economic relations, including relations in the fields of agriculture, energy, and renewable energy, with Kazakhstan, and also to support investment in both existing projects and new initiatives.
He further shared that the cultural and humanitarian cooperation between the two countries is developing rapidly, and for that cause, he set forth that Kazakh-French University will start its work in September 2024.
During the negotiations, the parties defined priority areas of future cooperation in the fields of green energy, logistics, transit, agriculture, healthcare, digitization, and education.
At the same time, the leaders of the two countries drew attention to the importance of stable relations regarding the main issues of the regional and global agenda and emphasized the need to deepen the dialogue within the framework of international organizations.
Agreements signed by the Presidents of France and Kazakhstan
After the bilateral talks between the two countries and their delegations in an expanded composition, the Kazakh and French presidents made a joint statement for the representatives of the mass media in a press conference regarding the documents of agreements signed between the two parties.
Firstly, the agreement was signed between the Government of France and Kazakhstan on the creation and operation of the French Development Agency Group in Kazakhstan.
Secondly, the agreement was signed regarding the opening of international French schools in Kazakhstan and the teaching of the French language in educational organizations of Kazakhstan.
Thirdly, a joint declaration of intent between France and Kazakhstan was signed on strategic mineral cooperation.
At number four, the agreement between Kazakh pharmaceutical company; “QazBioPharm, “ХХ” JSC, and French pharmaceutical company, Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health France was signed for developing cooperation on the license and delivery of local production of the vaccine against foot and mouth disease in Kazakhstan.
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At number five, the agreement on a joint venture on the project of construction of wind power plants with an energy storage system with a total capacity of 1 GW was signed between the two governments.
Lastly, at number six, the investment agreement on the implementation of the project, “Manufacturing and servicing of railway locomotives and rolling stock, as well as spare parts of railway equipment in Kazakhstan” was also signed.
