UAE and Kazakhstan to expand trade ties in renewable energy

The UAE-Kazakhstan bilateral relationship began since the establishment of diplomatic relations 29 years ago.

The UAE will maintain its economic diversification efforts and will look to Kazakhstan as a crucial partner to expand trade cooperation in renewable energy, infrastructure, aviation, maritime & land transportation, space exploration, and the technology sector, said Suhail bin Mohammed Al Mazrouei, UAE Minister of Energy and Infrastructure, on the side lines of the Kazakhstan Trade Investment Forum held at the Dubai Exhibition Centre at Expo 2020 Dubai on Wednesday.

“The UAE is implementing a forward-looking vision to expand cooperation in these fields. More recently, we announced the Net Zero by 2050 strategic initiative, making the UAE the first in the Mena region to do so. As part of this goal, we plan to invest Dh600 billion ($163 billion), which includes funding for the development of technologies such as Carbon Capture, Utilisation, and Storage (CCUS), electrolysers for green hydrogen, storage solutions for renewables, as well as smart grid and monitoring systems will be essential,” said Al Mazrouei.

“This ambitious initiative will serve as a catalyst to drive cooperation, investment and trade across all sectors, as we look to build a future that is pro-growth and pro-climate,” he added.

The UAE-Kazakhstan bilateral relationship began since the establishment of diplomatic relations 29 years ago. Between 2016 and 2020, the total non-oil trade between our two countries increased significantly, from $246 million in 2016 to $470 million in 2020. Total UAE investment flows into Kazakhstan reached around $4 billion in the Kazakhstani economy since 1991, highlighting the growing partnerships and friendship between the two nations. The recently signed MoU aims to support the participation of UAE investors in the field of research, exploration and extraction of mineral resources within Kazakhstan.

Askar Mamin, Prime Minister of Kazakhstan, along with Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak al Nahyan, UAE Minister of Tolerance and Coexistence, and other members of the Kazakhstani delegation celebrated ‘Day of Kazakhstan’ at Expo 2020 Dubai, which coincides with State Holiday – the Day of the First President of Kazakhstan.

“Achieving sustainable economic growth and development, advances in human capital, sustainability and resilience have been the focus of the government efforts over the past 30 years. Through balanced macroeconomic policy, consistent integration in the regional and global markets, and targeted work with foreign capital and technology we have built up the strongest and most advanced economy in the Central Asian region,” said Mamin.

“Kazakhstan has attracted more than $400 billion in foreign direct investment – on par with some of the most competitive capital destinations globally and the trade turnover expanded from $1.5 billion to $100 billion. More than 250 companies with UAE participation successfully operate in our economy today, contributing to our ever-expanding ties with your nation,” he added.

This October, Kazakhstan signed the historical joint declaration on establishment of a long-term strategic partnership to develop projects in priority industries, that will drive more than $6 billion in the UAE investment in the priority sectors of the Kazakhstani economy. On Wednesday, a strategic agreement was signed between Samruk-Kazyna and ADQ on the establishment of the energy holding and the term sheets on the projects in the renewable energy for the construction of solar and wind power plants in Kazakhstan with a total capacity of 4GW.

The Kazakhstan economy expanded 3.5 per cent beating the expectations by some of the most prominent international institutions. In the six months of 2021, the FDI increased more than 30 per cent with investment in fixed capital in the non-mining sectors expanding more than 14 per cent as the domestic investors join the trend.

“As our trade partners turn to growth, we have been seeing major recovery in the foreign trade as well – the turnover expanded 12.7 per cent to $72.8 billion. We expect it to exceed the $100 billion mark by the end of the year,” said Mamin

Recently Moody’s upgraded Kazakhstan credit rating, citing the real sector’s tolerance to shocks, improving expectations in the capital markets, and the quality of the government led anti-crisis measures. The IMF upgraded growth forecasts in the latest report, pointing at the advances in our capacity to withstand potential future waves of the pandemic. Most of the international financial institutions expect its economy to grow in the four per cent range in 2021 and up to 4.5 per cent in 2022.

To promote development Kazakhstan has identified a list of around 3,000 national investment projects worth more than $100 billion. The said projects will enable to increase the volume of FDI entering the national economy to more than $30 billion annually and the volume of investment fixed capital to more than 30 per cent of the GDP by 2025.

— sandhya@khaleejtimes.com