Delegation from Netherlands visiting Kazakhstan: new projects worth €450 million
Astana city hosted the Kazakhstan-Netherlands Investment Roundtable with the participation of a delegation of Dutch companies.
Over 100 delegates took part in the event organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan, NC KAZAKH INVEST JSC and the Embassy of the Republic of Kazakhstan in the Netherlands.
Economic relations between Kazakhstan and the Netherlands are developing dynamically. The inflow of investments from the Netherlands since 2011 has amounted to $23.7 billion, moreover, the “country of tulips” has been a leader among Kazakhstan investors for many years.
The Ambassadors of the two countries welcomed the participants of the Roundtable. The Ambassador of Kazakhstan to the Netherlands Askar Zhumagaliyev stressed, after the pandemic, ensuring food security is a priority for the whole world. In turn, the Ambassador of the Netherlands to Kazakhstan, Andre Carstens, said that this event should make a significant contribution to ensuring the mutual development of economies, rendering assistance in the diversification and facilitating working conditions, as well as creating better conditions for the business of the two countries for cooperation.
After welcoming speeches, Vice Minister of Agriculture of the Republic of Kazakhstan Zhenis Osserbay addressed the roundtable, noting the huge potential for expanding relations in the agro-industrial complex, then Frederic Vossenar, Special Representative of the Ministry of Agriculture of the Netherlands spoke about the success story of Dutch farmers who, having a small territory, but ranking 2nd place in the world in the export of agricultural products and food.
Deputy Chair of the Board of NC KAZAKH INVEST JSC Zhandos Temirgali made a presentation on the topic “Kazakhstan’s Investment Opportunities”, noting the interest in diversifying the portfolio of Dutch companies from the energy sector towards processing industries, such as food production, engineering, pharmaceuticals, etc. By the way, the Netherlands is one of the largest investors in the Kazakhstan economy. The inflow of investments from the Kingdom to our country in 2021 amounted to $6.9 billion.
According to UPOV Deputy Secretary General Peter Button, Kazakhstan's entry into the ranks of the International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV) will have a positive impact on ensuring the efficiency of agricultural production. Mr. Button assured that the Union is ready to accept Kazakhstan into its ranks and, thanks to the exchange of experience, new technologies and knowledge, to bring farms throughout the country to a higher level.
Philips Vice President Jan-Willem Scheijgrond in his speech noted Kazakhstan's desire to provide high-quality and high-tech medical services to the population of the whole country. So, for 25 years of the company's work in Kazakhstan, he emphasized the progressive movement of the Government in this direction, which will certainly affect such an important factor as life expectancy. He offered to implement joint projects with Kazakhstan colleagues.
In a response speech, the Chair of the Board of SK Pharmacy LLP, Erkhat Iskaliyev, said that within the framework of the centralization program of medical centers, the signing of a memorandum of understanding with Philips will be an important step in improving medicine in Kazakhstan, as well as create a platform for the exchange of experience in the digitalization of medicine.
Sander Pilkenrud, President of Dutch Clean Tech, spoke about the readiness to implement projects in the drinking water treatment. According to him, they have already implemented more than 1,000 projects around the world and are ready to use this experience in Kazakhstan as well.
Following the main session, the participants started signing the documents totaling more than €450 million.
Thus, Lely Group and BIK signed a Memorandum of Cooperation to create an automated dairy farm in Pavlodar region.
Philips and the Ministry of Healthcare of the Republic of Kazakhstan signed a Memorandum of Cooperation in the implementation of projects in the healthcare sector.
Moreover, KAZAKH INVEST signed a Memorandum on the implementation of the project to build a sewage treatment plant in Kazakhstan with Dutch Clean Tech. Rijk Zwaan and the Institute of Botany and Phytointroduction of the Committee on Forestry and Wildlife concluded an Agreement on joint work in seed production.
A Memorandum of Cooperation was signed between the Ministry of Agriculture of the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the State Commission for Variety Testing of Agricultural Crops of the Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
The Roundtable was continued in the panel sessions “Livestock, poultry, meat and milk production, veterinary” and “Greenhouse sector development”.
During the panel discussions, they addressed the issues of the development of the agro-industrial complex, new technologies and the possibility of their application in Kazakhstan.
The Roundtable was followed by a workshop “UPOV AND NAKTUINBOUW IN SEED DEVELOPMENT” and parallel bilateral meetings.
Инвестируйте в Казахстан - Пресс-релизы (invest.gov.kz)