On July 9-10 this year, the working visit of the First Deputy of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Commissioner of the international specialised exhibition “EXPO-2017” Rapil Zhoshybayev to Germany took place.

During his stay in Berlin, dialogues with State Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Germany Emily Haber, Deputy of Federal Minister of Economics and Technology Karl-Ernst Brauner, Executive Director of the Agency for market solutions «GIZ AgenZ» Andreas von Schumann and Member of the board of the company «Deutsche Messe “Andrew Gross and foreign investors were held.

At the meeting, in the Foreign Ministry of Germany, an extensive exchange of views on topical issues of bilateral and international cooperation was held. Both sides emphasised the high level of bilateral dynamic and fruitful cooperation, as reflected in the stability of the political dialogue, strengthening and expanding of trade and economic cooperation, solid legal base, expanding cultural and humanitarian ties.

Special attention was paid to the issues of reconciliation of situations in Afghanistan and the Middle East, the fight against terrorism and extremism, as well as cooperation of RK with the EU. In addition, issues of joint projects in the field of technology transfer, the creation of the Kazakhstan Agency for International Assistance and Technical Assistance «KazAID», the development of “dual system” of education in the Republic of Kazakhstan, as well as support for Kazakhstan’s bid to host the 22th World Petroleum Congress in Astana in 2017 were discussed.

During the meeting with the leadership of the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology of Germany, the sides discussed issues related to the practical implementation of the agreements reached between the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev and Federal Chancellor of FRG, A. Merkel, following the results of meeting in Berlin in February 2012, and prospects of further development of trade-economic, industrial and technological cooperation between the two countries.

In particular, the German side emphasised the interest of Germany in a substantive content of the intergovernmental Agreement on the commodity, industrial and technology partnership, as well as informed about the initiative steps in this sphere. Particular attention was paid to the issues of development of the Kazakh-German cooperation in the field of energy in the future within the transition of Kazakhstan to the rails of “green economy” and the preparation for the realisation of the international exhibition EXPO-2017 in Astana city.

In this regard, Deputy of Federal Minister of Economics and Technology K-E.Brauner informed of intentions of Germany to build its pavilion on the latest standards of technological advances in the field of construction and use in the process of alternative sources of renewable energy on the exhibition area.
The Executive Director of the Agency for market solutions «GIZ AgenZ» Andreas von Schumann and Member of the Board of «Deutsche Messe» Andrew Gross confirmed the interest of their organisations to participate in the preparation for EXPO-2017 in Astana, as well as the readiness in transferring of the advanced knowledge and technologies in the field of organisation and large-scale international exhibitions around the world to Kazakhstan. According to the results of the meetings, agreements on deepening cooperation with that purpose were reached.

In negotiating with foreign investors, issues the attraction of foreign investment in the organisation of the International specialised exhibition in Astana were discussed.

During all of the meetings and talks, held in the capital of Germany, it was repeatedly noted that the election of Astana as a venue for the exhibition “EXPO-2017” is a recognition of the achievements of Kazakhstan’s leadership in the field of state-building and the development of a competitive economy. Special respect, according to the German side, causes a choice of theme of the upcoming exhibition “Energy of the Future”, which clearly emphasises the conscious responsibility of leadership of the country, which is rich for its natural resources prior to future generations.