Issues of realization of new joint investment projects were discussed by Prime Minister of Kazakhstan Alikhan Smailov and Minister of Trade of South Korea Ahn Duk-geun.

During the meeting, Prime Minister emphasized that the Government of Kazakhstan sees great prospects for further development of trade and economic cooperation with South Korea. This, in particular, is supported by the dynamic growth of trade turnover: last year it grew 2.3 times and exceeded $6.1 billion, and for 8 months of this year it increased by another 11%.

"I believe that we need to make joint efforts to expand the nomenclature of mutual trade. An important tool here is the Kazakhstan-Korea Intergovernmental Commission in the sphere of trade-economic and scientific-technical cooperation. I believe it is expedient to activate its activity and hold a regular meeting in the near future," Alikhan Smailov said.

He also noted that South Korea is consistently among the top 10 largest investors in the economy of Kazakhstan. Thus, over the past 18 years, about $9.2 billion has been invested in Kazakhstan. At the same time, last year the gross inflow of direct investment from Korea increased by 85% and reached a new record volume of $1.5 billion.

According to Prime Minister, more than 700 Korean enterprises are currently operating in Kazakhstan, the largest of which are KIA, Hyundai, Samsung and LG.

"Today, 5 projects worth $1.5 billion are under implementation and 25 more promising projects worth about $500 million are being worked out. As a striking example, we can note the construction of a new large plant KIA with a total investment of $190 million and production capacity of 70 thousand cars per year in the city of Kostanay," Alikhan Smailov said.

He added that the Government of Kazakhstan will continue to create all necessary conditions for comfortable work of investors in the country.

In turn, Ahn Duk-geun emphasized that South Korea is ready for active technological cooperation with Kazakhstan in various sectors of the economy.

"Such projects as the KIA plant in Kazakhstan are very important. If it is successfully implemented, Kazakhstan's automobile industry will become an example. It will facilitate the construction of other similar plants and production facilities," the South Korean Minister of Trade said.

#Alikhan Smailov #The Prime Minister of the Republic of Kazakhstan #Economy #International Cooperation #Investments