Prospects for further strengthening of Kazakhstan-Czech cooperation were discussed by Prime Minister of Kazakhstan Alikhan Smailov and Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala, who arrived in our country on an official visit.

The parties discussed in detail current issues and opportunities for cooperation in trade, industry, energy, transport, logistics, finance, agriculture, digitalization, education, tourism, etc.

Alikhan Smailov emphasized that last year the trade turnover between the countries increased by 67 percent and reached $ 423 million. The dynamic growth continues this year as well. However, Kazakhstan is ready to increase exports to the Czech Republic in 95 commodity items worth about $ 600 million.

As Head of the Government noted, attraction of investments is also an important area of bilateral cooperation. So, since 2008 about $270 million of direct Czech investments were invested in Kazakhstan. This trend of positive growth has been maintained in recent years.

"Investment interaction between our countries is supported by new joint projects. Kazakhstan provides various tax and customs privileges for investors. In this regard, we invite Czech companies to active joint work," Alikhan Smailov said.

Prime Minister emphasized importance of further steps on development of industrial cooperation, in particular, localization of machine-building production in Kazakhstan.

"At the moment there is already a real interest of such large Czech companies as Skoda Transportation, Сzechoslovak group and a number of others which can become locomotives of development of our friendship in highly industrialized spheres," he stressed.

Besides, Alikhan Smailov noted the great prospects for strengthening cooperation in the transit-transport sphere, including within the framework of the Trans-Caspian international transport route, establishment of direct air communication between the countries and cooperation in attracting venture investments to IT startups.

"The Government of Kazakhstan is determined to have a comprehensive and effective partnership with the Czech Republic across the entire spectrum of interaction," he said.

In turn Peter Fiala stressed the Czech Republic's readiness to further develop mutually beneficial cooperation with Kazakhstan. Initiatives in the fields of energy, food and finance are of particular interest here.

"The Czech Republic is linked to Kazakhstan by long-term friendly relations, and we are interested in their further development. We consider Kazakhstan one of the key partners in the Central Asian region. At the same time, our cooperation develops in a broader context, since the entire European Union is interested in developing a closer partnership with the countries of Central Asia. And relations between Kazakhstan and the Czech Republic are one of the pillars of this cooperation," Petr Fiala said.

Prime Minister of the Czech Republic drew attention to the prospects for joint steps in the fields of transport, modernization of energy infrastructure, development of renewable energy sources, machine-building and other areas.

In addition, Petr Fiala noted the importance of continued humanitarian cooperation between the countries, in particular, maintaining the link between schools and universities. He also added that the opening of direct flights may give a significant impetus to the development of bilateral relations.

At the end of the meeting, the parties expressed their willingness to maintain active contacts between the countries at various levels to strengthen mutually beneficial cooperation.

#Alikhan Smailov #The Prime Minister of the Republic of Kazakhstan #Energy #Engineering #International Cooperation #Trade