Tajani In Kazakhstan Will Strengthen Friendship Between Two Countries

The head of Italian diplomacy, Antonio Tajani, was the first foreign minister to visit the former Soviet republic in Central Asia since 1997. For Italy, Kazakhstan is a strategic partner in economy and trade.

After a trip to China, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani visited Kazakhstan, a powerful former Soviet republic in Central Asia, the size of Europe, to reassure its authorities and people of friendship and cooperation. After Lamberto Dini’s visit to Almaty in 1997, Tajani became the first Italian foreign minister to visit Kazakhstan. A trip by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni was planned for May, but catastrophic flooding caused the visit to be postponed indefinitely. In this context, the talks in Astana between the head of the Italian Foreign Ministry and the Prime Minister of Kazakhstan Alikhan Smailov and Foreign Minister Murat Nurtleu acquired particular importance.

“We consider Kazakhstan a strategic partner and for this we will continue to work together. The situation is very positive, and we would like it to become even more positive. We have established a strong friendship that will have a favorable impact on our countries,” said the Italian Foreign Minister.

Tajani and Nurtleu noted the growing dynamism in the development of political, economic, trade, and cultural ties between the two countries. The parties analyzed the status and prospects for the development of mutually beneficial cooperation in various fields, as well as the possibilities for coordinated cooperation in various multilateral formats.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan emphasized the importance of expanding the areas of cooperation with Italy. “Italy is a reliable partner, the volume of our trade with Italy has reached a record level among all European countries. During more than 30 years of diplomatic relations, we have achieved good results,” said the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan.

Economic and trade exchanges between Italy and Kazakhstan are growing from year to year. In 2022, growth compared to the results of the previous year amounted to 54% and reached 14.9 billion dollars, while in the first seven months of 2023 this figure was 9 billion. Italy is participating in investments and technologies in the construction of a number of important infrastructure projects in Kazakhstan, including a wind farm in the Aktobe region and the production of tractors and combines in the Kustanai region.

“There is great interest in Italy and in our SMEs, there are many opportunities, and therefore it is in our interests to cooperate,” Tajani emphasized, recalling that relations between Italy and Kazakhstan are based on the 2009 bilateral Cooperation Agreement. Nurtleu signed a joint communiqué that will lay foundation for even more intensive cooperation in many priority sectors, from manufacturing to smart and sustainable water resource management, advanced electronics, and information technology.

For the period from 2005 to 2022, the inflow of foreign direct investment into Kazakhstan from Italy amounted to $7.3 billion. Italy is the 12th largest investor in the economy of Kazakhstan, where about 270 companies currently operate with Italian financial participation. More than 400 Italian companies have business relations with Kazakh partners.

The two countries are accelerating cooperation in the fields of energy, geological exploration, and industrial exploitation of natural resources, construction, infrastructure, transport, communications, agriculture, science and technology. In the plans is the implementation of 21 strategic industrial projects in various sectors with Italy’s participation for a total of $474 million.

Kazakhstan highly appreciates Italy’s decision to open in 2023 in Almaty the first branch of the Italian Institute of Culture in Central Asia. “We want to increase the number of Kazakh students in Italy. We also want to see many Italian students in Kazakhstan. It is no coincidence that in a few weeks we will be the first to open a cultural institute in Almaty, demonstrating our intention to develop cultural diplomacy,” Tajani summarized.