ASTANA, Kazakhstan, March 12. Kazakhstan and the UK have signed a roadmap for a strategic partnership in the field of critical minerals, Trend reports.
The document was signed as part of the visit of Vice Minister of Industry and Construction of Kazakhstan Iran Sharkhan to the UK to participate in the "Mineral Processing and Circular Economy" business forum (March 11-15, 2024).
As the ministry noted, the signed roadmap opened a new chapter of Kazakh-British relations on sustainable minerals.
In addition to this, during the business forum a meeting was held between Iran Sharkhan and Minister of State for Industry and Economic Security of the UK, Nusrat Ghani.
Iran Sharkhan noted the main basic principles of Kazakhstan, such as "raw materials in exchange for technology and entry into the global value chain." He also invited British companies to take part in investment projects in Kazakhstan.
In turn, Nusrat Ghani assessed the work of the two parties towards the formation of a long-term partnership. The minister noted with satisfaction the signing of the roadmap, which is an important landmark event in transferring the current interaction in the field of critical raw materials between London and Astana to a practical level.
The event also included B2B meetings, where entrepreneurs from Kazakhstan and the UK were able to discuss a wide range of issues related to the development of bilateral cooperation in the field of critical raw materials and specific project proposals.
Meanwhile, the volume of trade turnover between Kazakhstan and the UK amounted to $1.18 billion in 2023. The volume of trade turnover decreased by 36 percent compared to the same period in 2022 ($1.84 billion).
At the same time, in the structure of trade turnover, exports to the UK for the above period amounted to $702 million, which is 52 percent less than from January through December 2022 ($1.46 billion).
In addition, imports from the UK from January through December 2023 increased by 24.5 percent and amounted to $478.6 million. For 2022, imports amounted to $384.3 billion.
