BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 15. Kazakhstan has invited South Korea to provide investment and technological expertise for the development of its mineral and raw material potential.
This was stated in a statement released by the press office of the Kazakh President, citing Kassym-Jomart Tokayev’s remarks at the opening of the Kazakhstan-Korea roundtable.
Tokayev noted that critical minerals have become one of the most strategically significant and fastest-growing sectors of the global economy.
“The significant reserves of these strategic resources in our country also open up broad opportunities for Kazakh-Korean cooperation in advanced industries and other high-income sectors. We will be pleased to welcome Korean investment and technological expertise in developing Kazakhstan's mineral and raw material potential. In this regard, we propose a ‘resources - technologies - industry’ model for the joint development of full-fledged value chains. The establishment of the Center for Technological Cooperation in Rare and Rare Earth Metals in Almaty is another logical step within the framework of the new partnership model. We are convinced that joint work by scientists will allow us to move from studying the resource base to specific industrial projects,” Tokayev said.
He also highlighted energy as another important area of cooperation and noted the continued interest of Korean companies in Kazakhstan's energy sector.
“Hyundai Engineering is already playing a key role in the construction of the Karachaganak gas processing plant. We consider this project as the beginning of the long-term and strategic presence of Korean companies in our market. There is significant potential to expand this partnership into gas processing, petrochemicals, energy infrastructure and renewable energy. As the world's largest uranium producer, Kazakhstan has significant potential in peaceful nuclear energy. Particular attention should be paid to small modular reactors, which are playing an increasingly important role in the global energy sector. Kazakhstan is ready to establish mutually beneficial cooperation with Korea in this area,” Tokayev said.
