Kazakhstan and Germany agree to develop joint exploration and natural resources

ASTANA. June 20 (Interfax) - Kazakhstan and Germany have agreed to strengthen cooperation in the joint exploration and development of natural resources, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said.

"Kazakhstan is ready to be a reliable partner in the development of natural resources, which German and, in a broader sense, European industry needs. This morning during my meeting with Mr. Steinmeier [German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier], we agreed to strengthen our cooperation in the joint exploration and development of natural resources. This includes giving real content to the intergovernmental agreement on partnership in the raw materials, industrial and technological fields," Tokayev said on Tuesday at the Kazakh-German business forum in Astana, which took place as part of the German President's visit to Kazakhstan. Tokayev noted that Kazakhstan is Germany's leading economic partner in Central Asia. To date, German companies have invested almost $6 billion in Kazakhstan's economy, with about 90% of these investments in the non-resource sector.

"There are more than 1,000 actively operating companies with German capital in our country. Many of them are world-famous brands, and others are medium-sized family businesses," Tokayev said.

Earlier it was reported that the Swedish-German Svevind Energy plans to invest $50 billion in the construction of a green hydrogen plant in Aktau.

Also, during Steinmeier's visit to Astana, an agreement was signed between KazMunayGas and Rosneft Deutschland, which is under the control of the German government, for the supply of oil from the Karachaganak field in the amount of 100,000 tonnes per month until the end of 2023 for the refinery in Schwedt.