At Busan-Kazakhstan Business Forum
Welcome Remarks by Ambassador of the Republic of Kazakhstan
to the Republic of Korea H.E. Mr. Nurgali Arystanov
at Busan-Kazakhstan Business Forum
(November 14, 2023, Busan)
Introduction
Dear Mr. Meirzhan Otynshiev, Chairman of Almaty Maslikhat,
Mr. Hwang Young-ha, Head of Diplomacy and Trade Division of Busan,
Mr. Kim Jae-gab, Director of Global Business Support Division of BEPA,
Distinguished guests and friends,
am delighted to be here among CEOs, officials and friends of Kazakhstan who can make a difference in terms of promoting Kazakh-Korean friendship. Today, we are here to celebrate the first anniversary of Almaty – Busan sister city relationship (signed on Sept 14, 2022).
Political Support
I am happy to observe that bilateral ties are burgeoning. Throughout the year, we have had an array of milestone events that will push the bilateral agenda forward. For instance, President Tokayev and President Yoon Suk Yeoul met in September in New York at UN General Assembly and identified pathways for future engagement. Foreign Minister Park Jin visited Kazakhstan in June and held successful talks with Foreign Minister Murat Nurtleu. The two Foreign Ministers recently had a successful bilateral meeting at a C5+K ministerial meeting in Ashgabat in Turkmenistan.
This kind of events sets up an excellent political framework for business-to-business ties and provides political support for commercial engagement.
Today, I am so glad that we are going to discuss prospects for future partnerships and explore opportunities for business deals.
Busan’s Global Ties, Priority Areas
In this respect, I would like to express my gratitude to BEPA (Busan Economic Promotion Agency) for its support in organizing today’s event. I know that it takes a lot of efforts and finances to put together such a comprehensive event. Thanks to proactive efforts of BEPA, today Busan has emerged as a global city with so many economic linkages with the world economy. There is so much we can do together to enhance Busan’s economic ties with Kazakhstan as well. I hope that today’s Business Forum will serve that purpose.
To see the priority areas for cooperation, we could look at the statements and program documents issued by our leaders and draw inspirations. For example, President of Kazakhstan, His Excellency Tokayev recently delivered a state of the nation address, which captured the imagination of millions of Kazakh citizens, and highlighted key areas where we should focus:
- drones development;
- attracting banks;
- rare earth metals extraction;
- hydrogen generation;
- peaceful use of nuclear energy;
- smart waters;
- health and education.
If we project these areas to the bilateral cooperation, it is evident that we could work together along these lines.
Similarly, in June, the Korean Presidential Administration issued a National Security Strategy, which identifies the following areas for cooperation with Central Asia:
- economic development;
- industrial diversification;
- energy;
- infrastructure;
- education;
- tourism;
- public health;
- digital technology; and
- labor.
In fact, Kazakhstan is working together with the Central Asian brotherly nations to promote cooperation with Korea in a broader framework. We have Central Asia – Republic Korea Cooperation Forum (also informally known as C5+K), which provides regional dimension to our engagement. Because of this format, our six countries are promoting cooperation in energy, education, smart waters, climate change, culture and transport and logistics.
Coming back to Busan, I should say that we have a Consulate General, which is one of 6 consular posts here (US, China, Japan, Russia, Mongolia, Kazakhstan). This shows how much attention we pay to engaging with Busan directly. Our Consulate General under the leadership of Consul General Ayan Kashabayev has been very active in promoting business, economic, cultural and people-to-people ties between Busan and Kazakhstan’s cities. In this, he is also supported by Mr. Lee Sang-hoon, Honorary Consul of Kazakhstan in Ulsan.
Bilateral Economic Cooperation
At the nation-to-nation level, Kazakhstan and Korea are cooperating successfully. In 2022, our two-way trade more than doubled and reached 6.5 billion USD. Koreas now is the 4th largest trade partner for Kazakhstan (1.China; 2. Italy; 3. Russia).
Also, Korea has emerged as the 6th largest foreign investor in terms of the investments attracted in 2022 (1.Netherlands; 2. USA; 3.Switzerland; 4. Russia; 5.China).
Today, there are many success stories of cooperation involving Korean companies such as Hyundai Motors, KIA, SK Ecoplant, Korea Expressway, Doosan, Samsung Electronics and LG. As we build Middle Corridor (connecting China with Europe through the Caspian Sea) in developing a new Silk Road, we need to attract more Korean companies in the fields of logistics, infrastructure, construction, and shipbuilding.
Building on this success stories, I would like to invite more companies to invest in Kazakhstan and do business with Almaty region.
I can assure you that Kazakhstan offers the best investment environment and business climate to welcome Korean companies. You don’t have to get a visa to visit Kazakhstan, as we have a visa free regime for travels for up to one month. Almaty is just 6 hours away from Seoul and there are 11 flights a week connecting our cities, which are operated by Air Astana and Asiana Airlines.
Because of these convenient conditions for people-to-people ties, for the first half of 2023, the Korean tourists traveling to Kazakhstan more than tripled.
Conclusion
Before I conclude, I would like to leave you with three key takeaways.
First and foremost, Kazakhstan is open for business and has a welcoming environment.
Second, the Embassy and Consulate General would be glad to support your business initiatives.
Third, seeing is believing. Please do come to Almaty and see the wonderful environment, majestic mountains with your own eyes and taste delicious food and experience colorful culture. You could also enjoy a game of golf and other sports (skiing, mountaineering, trekking) and entertainment.
I am sure with this kind of support from our political leaders, such enthusiastic response from CEOs and local authorities, the future of Kazakh-Korean friendship shines bright. And we will redouble our efforts to ensure that bilateral cooperation is elevated to the next height.
Thank you and I wish everyone here successful deliberations.