Paris held Kazakh and French talks in spirit of strategic partnership

The parties touched on the wider issues of bilateral and multilateral cooperation.

Mr. Vasilenko who attended the official mourning ceremonies of the demise of former French President Jacques René Chirac convey condolences of Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, accentuating his special part in the history of international relations and the contribution to the development of Kazakh-French relations.

The talks touched upon the issues of further deepening the bilateral strategic partnership in the key areas as well as the implementation of the priority projects in the build-up to the visit of French President Emmanuel Macron to Kazakhstan in the future, believed to give new impetus to the cooperation.

The Kazakh vice foreign minister confirmed the Kazakh side’s commitment to expanding the range of cooperation, including in digitalization, agriculture, alternative energy. As the examples of recent positive works in those areas the two major investment forums held by the Kazakh embassy in the French regions were mentioned: one in digitalization and alternative energy in March in Cannes, another in agriculture and agro-industry in September in Rennes, as well as the upcoming investment forum on 8 October this year involving Roman Sklyar, Kazakh Deputy Premier. It was noted that the events were of substantive interest to the French business circles and became a good platform to establish business contacts.

The parties marked the aspiration for strengthening cooperation in transport, energy, atomic and aerospace industries, as well as so-called decentralized partnership among the regions of the two countries. France is among the top 5 trade and investment partners of Kazakhstan, with trade turnover of over US50 billion in over past 10 years. The two countries have carried out the major investment projects in uranium, oil and gas, titanium industries, transport engineering, construction materials, food and you name it, allowing for French investments worth more than $15 billion. Over 130 companies with French capital, including Total S.A., Orano S.A., Alstom, Danone, Vicat S.A. and others, operate in Kazakhstan.

It was pointed out that the convergence of the two nations would largely contribute to humanitarian contacts, cultural cooperation, education and science. Among the mentioned key projects taking place these days in France under the Rukhani Zhangyru programme were the events under the “Kazakhstan fall in France” cultural season, they include the performances of the ballet company of Abay Opera House, the concert of Nur-Sultan’s Symphony Orchestra, the week of Kazakh cinema, art and photo exhibitions, the presentations of the anthologies of contemporary Kazakh poetry and prose translated to French, the concerts of folklore music and so on.

Nur-Sultan and Paris place great attention to educational cooperation as first Kazakh President – National Leader Nursultan Nazarbayev’s scholarship programme has been in running since 1993. The Sorbonne-Kazakhstan Institute was opened in December 2014 in Kazakhstan, with the greater academic mobility of master’s degree and PhD students thanks to the establishment of the Kazakh-French scholarship Abai-Verne.

Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne who is a member of the French Government commended the level and dynamic of the interaction with Kazakhstan in all areas by confirming Paris’s firm interest in further development of mutually beneficial cooperation.

Serious attention was placed on the good momentum in the relations of Central Asian countries and the implementation of the UN’s new Central Asia Strategy.

The Kazakh vice foreign ministry attended a meeting with Frederic Mondoloni, Director at the Continental Europe Department of France’s Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs and Paskal Lorot, Special Representative of France’s Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs for economic diplomacy in Central Asia, where they held talks on the joing projects.

The Kazakh vice foreign minister and Nathalie Goulet, Chair of the Senate of Parliament’s Group of Friendship “France-Central Asia” and Pierre Cabaret, Chairman of the National Assembly of Parliament’s Group of Friendship “France-Kazakhstan” confirmed the importance and efficiency of inter-parliamentary ties to promote bilateral political dialogue and decentralized cooperation.

Mr. Vasilenko also sat down with several French media outlets, where he spoke of the current social and economic reforms and foreign policy initiatives of Kazakhstan’s leadership, the priorities of economic development, opening new opportunities for cooperating with France and business circles.

Photo credit: Foreign Affairs