BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 11. Bilateral cooperation between Kazakhstan and the European Union (EU) have progressed and have become even more relevant in light of the current geopolitical context, through high-level contacts and continued exchanges at different levels, the EU official told Trend.
The official noted that the EU is committed to open new avenues of cooperation with Kazakhstan, for instance on strategic issues such as critical raw materials or connectivity.
“With regard to the EU’s economic relations with Kazakhstan, the EU is Kazakhstan’s first trade partner and first foreign investor, and Kazakhstan remains the main trade partner of the EU in Central Asia. In 2021, the trade balance reached €12 billion in favour of Kazakhstan. The EU-Kazakhstan High–Level Business Platform launched in 2019, plays an important role in building economic relations and opens possibilities new avenues of cooperation,” the official said.
In their words, Kazakhstan remains an important and valuable partner for the European Union, and our mutual commitment to further strengthen bilateral relations was confirmed at the EU-Kazakhstan Cooperation Council on 20 June.
“The EU welcomes the political reforms initiated by President Tokayev in addition to the socio-economic reforms announced earlier this year. Together, we work to uphold the commitments of our Enhanced Partnership and Cooperation Agreement, including fundamental freedoms of peaceful assembly, expression and association, and developing our connectivity, trade and cooperation. This was also underlined by President von der Leyen in her meeting with President Tokayev last week in New York,” the official concluded.