Kazakh President Qasym-Jomart Toqaev's official visit to Germany began with a meeting with heads of the country's economic associations and financial institutions, infohub.kz reports.
According to the presidential press service, Qasym-Jomart Toqaev discussed with the meeting participants the prospects of combining German finance, expert experience and risk management tools with Kazakhstan's resources and transport potential.
The head of state stated his country's aspiration to become a reliable partner of Germany in Central Asia and the Eurasian space.
"I would like to emphasize that Germany enjoys the deep respect of my people and has an excellent reputation in Kazakhstan. The discipline of your banking sector, the highest quality of engineering solutions, as well as the resilience of small and medium-sized businesses (Mittelstand) — these are exactly the qualities that we seek to introduce into our economy in the process of modernization and technological transformation. The Federal Republic of Germany is one of our key partners in Europe. Kazakh-German cooperation is an integral part of Kazakhstan's interaction with the European Union — our largest trade and investment partner. We have come a long way together, but the potential of our economic partnership is far from exhausted. Kazakhstan is ready to take it to a qualitatively new level," the president said.
Thus, Qasym-Jomart Toqaev proposed creating a Kazakh-German investment and financial platform.
"Such a platform will allow combining German and European capital with Kazakh co-financing, guarantees and risk-sharing mechanisms, while the Baiterek holding will ensure project structuring. We welcome the participation of German export credit and investment insurance institutions alongside international financial organizations already operating in our country. In this context, we must particularly note the importance we attach to cooperation with Euler Hermes, which is already operating in Kazakhstan," the Kazakh president explained.
Another priority mentioned in the speech was the creation of a Kazakh-German partnership in the field of digital innovation and artificial intelligence.
"We invite German companies to use their potential in such areas as technologies for data centers, energy efficiency, cloud infrastructure and cybersecurity. Another promising area is fintech. The high level of development of Kazakhstan's digital financial ecosystem provides the opportunity to create advanced payment solutions and tokenization technologies in the domestic market with their subsequent scaling across the entire region," the head of state said.
The next area of cooperation, according to Qasym-Jomart Toqaev, is the development of Alatau City, which is intended to become a "gateway" for broader participation of the German financial sector in Kazakhstan's economy.
"This project represents Central Asia's first 'smart city,' initially designed with all the requirements of the digital era in mind. It can become a practical link between German institutional capital and Kazakhstan's investment opportunities. I am confident that Alatau City will become a new center of attraction for talent, technology and business throughout Eurasia," the president believes.
In conclusion, Qasym-Jomart Toqaev emphasized that Kazakhstan and Germany, relying on a high level of political dialogue, have all the necessary capabilities to form a close financial, technological and investment partnership. The main goal is not just to increase capital inflow, but to jointly create new industries and points of long-term growth.