Kazakhstan, Japan ink agreements in urban transport, nuclear energy and water supply spheres
By Kamila Aliyeva
Astana hosted the Kazakh-Japanese business forum and a meeting of the joint government and private sector commission for economic cooperation on June 27.
At the opening of the forum, Kazakh Vice Minister Arystan Kabikenov stressed that Japan is one of Kazakhstan's key strategic partners in East Asia, the website of the Ministry for Investment and Development reported.
Since 2015, there is an agreement on the promotion and mutual protection of investments between the countries.
“Since the first years of independence, Kazakhstan has relied on ensuring economic growth through the creation of favorable conditions for foreign investors. Japan is one of the largest investors in Kazakhstan. From 2005 to 2017, gross inflow of direct investments from Japan to Kazakhstan exceeded $5 billion,” Kabikenov said.
In turn, Vice-Minister for International Affairs of the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry Tadao Yanase noted that Japanese companies are interested in investing in Kazakhstan.
During the event, the Chairman of the Kazakh Invest Board, Saparbek Tuyakbaev, and the Vice-Chairman of the Marubeni Corporation Yamazoe Shigeru signed a memorandum of understanding and cooperation on the development of urban transport in Almaty.
“At present, in Almaty within the framework of the PPP scheme, we are working on the implementation of the project to build a light rail system. In addition to solving tasks related to construction, operation, maintenance and financing, we are working to create a digital infrastructure, considering Light Rail Vehicles as an integral part of city planning, and thus we are striving to provide comfortable living conditions for citizens,” he said.
In addition, a memorandum of understanding and cooperation for the implementation of a pilot project in the heat and water supply systems between JSC KazCenter Housing, Mitsui & Co and Japan system Planing, a memorandum of cooperation in nuclear energy between Kazakhstan Nuclear Power Plants and The Japan Atomic Power Company, Marubeni Utility Services, were signed.
As of May 1, 77 legal entities, branches and representative offices with Japanese participation were registered in Kazakhstan.
To date, ten joint large-scale projects have been implemented for a total amount of more than $1.1 billion. Also, work is underway to implement seven joint large projects worth about $2 billion.
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Kamila Aliyeva is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Kami_Aliyeva
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