ASTANA, Kazakhstan, November 16. Kazakhstan has signed a Declaration of Intent for EU-EBRD technical support for two projects of Tau-Ken Samruk JSC in the field of critical raw materials, Trend reports.
The signing of the declaration took place within the framework of a special panel session "EU-ROK Strategic Partnership in the field of raw materials, batteries and green hydrogen" as part of the annual "Raw Materials Week" organized by the European Commission.
The funding will be used to conduct technical evaluations for the Tau-Ken Samruk JSC projects "Tungsten deposits of Northern Katpar and Upper Kairakty" and "Lithium extraction from the Aral Sea salt marsh."
The initiatives will cost 400,000 euros in total, including an estimated EU contribution of 200,000 euros.
Speaking at the panel discussion, Ilyas Ospanov, Kazakhstan's Vice Minister of Industry and Construction, stated that Kazakhstan presently produces 19 of the 34 EU key raw materials.
Ospanov explained Kazakhstan's key ideas, such as "raw materials in exchange for investments in green technologies and entry into the global value chain."
In addition, the vice minister invited foreign companies to take part in investment projects and localize production in Kazakhstan.
Previously, Kazakhstan and the EU discussed issues of further development of cooperation in the field of production raw materials and logistics.
Industrial products worth 33.972 trillion tenge (about $70.9 billion) were produced in Kazakhstan from January through September 2023.
These products were produced in the mining industry for 15.925 trillion tenge, or about $33.2 billion (46.9 percent of the total volume), and in the manufacturing industry for 15.890 trillion tenge, or about $33.16 billion (46.8 percent).
Production growth is observed in the mining and quarrying industry by 5.4 percent. In the mining and quarrying industry from January through September 2023, the index amounted to 105.4 percent, which is due to an increase in the production of crude oil (108.4 percent), natural gas (106.1 percent), ores, except iron (101 percent), and other minerals (113.9 percent).
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