His Excellency Nursultan Nazarbayev, President of the Republic of Kazakhstan commended to the wise leadership of the United Arab Emirates, led by His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE, stressing the depth of economic cooperation, investment and the Strategic Partnership between the United Arab Emirates and the Republic of Kazakhstan.
He said during an extensive meeting held with HE Eng Salah Salem bin Omeir Al Shamsi, Chairman of the Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry President of Abu Dhabi Chamber of commerce and industry in the presence of His Excellency Sultan Mansouri, Minister of Economy and a large number of businessmen and representatives of various economic sectors in the UAE. He said the Republic of Kazakhstan and the United Arab Emirates, thanks to their natural resources and the significant achievements that have been made and efforts for the continuation of the development process have become key players in the global economy.
The Kazakh President called on to strengthen the UAE’s investments in his country, especially in the fields of industry, petrochemicals, metals , oil and gas equipment , agricultural sector and infrastructure projects, pointing out that the investment climate in his country is ready for such investments and the Government of his country is in the process of reducing taxes and fees on such investments to stimulate corporate and foreign investors to invest in Kazakhstan.
His Excellency praised the role played by UAE companies investing in Kazakhstan, especially in the sectors of oil, gas and real estate development and infrastructure.
The Kazakhs President spoke about the potential and natural resources owned by his country, adding that Kazakhstan has the eighth-largest oil reserves in the world and is ranked 15 in the list of States which have more gas reserves in the world. He pointed out to the investment opportunities available in the agricultural sector saying that there are 31 million hectares of fertile land, which provides distinct opportunities for investment in production and agricultural crops and all of these opportunities available to investors from the United Arab Emirates.
For his part, His Excellency Sultan Al Mansuri , Minister of Economy reiterated the readiness of institutions, especially the Islamic banking to provide expertise in the field of Islamic banking for the Republic of Kazakhstan through Abu Dhabi and Dubai Islamic Banks and other and in cooperation and coordination with the concerned bodies, particularly the Central Bank.
His Excellency Engineer Salah Salem bin omeir Al Shamsi, Chairman of the Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry, spoke at the meeting, where he said "It is a good occasion to meet together today on the road to establish bonds of cooperation and joint action which given the utmost care by the leadership of our two countries under the chairmanship of His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE and His Excellency Nur Sultan Nazarbayev, President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, who are keen to provide all the requirements , and facilitate the success of the forms of cooperation and interdependence between the two countries .
Al Shamsi pointed out that Kazakhstan is a leading trade partner of the UAE in the group of countries of Central Asia, where trade has increased significantly between the two countries amounting to some $ 2.6 billion AED in 2007 , about 2.5 billion dirhams for re-exports of commodities to the UAE market and about 92 million dirhams imports from Kazakhstan, while a total volume of investments of the UAE in the Republic of Kazakhstan about more than 12 billion dirhams, and hopes to reach during this year to nearly 15 billion dirhams. We in the United Arab Emirates will strive for the development prospects of trade and investment cooperation with the friendly Republic of Kazakhstan, as the UAE in recent years has made it possible for the overall development that made the UAE among the developed countries, which is serious in continuing to move forward towards a brighter future.
Al Shamsi stressed that the Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry, God willing, seeks to develop bilateral relations with the business sector in Kazakhstan, through the activation of the joint business council, which held its first meeting yesteday in the capital Abu Dhabi in support of the reality of this relationship towards the deepening of possible cooperation for the development of economic relations and trade and the establishment of joint investment projects and the definition of the business sector in our countries, the economic potential, productivity and mutual cooperation in the exchange of information, visits, exhibitions and trade fairs. As well as to diversify the ways and mechanisms of joint cooperation between the UAE and the Republic of Kazakhstan.
