Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier took part in the Kazakhstan-Germany business forum. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing Sputnik Kazakhstan.

According to Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, industrial cooperation is one of the key areas of the Kazakh-German partnership. Today the joint portfolio includes 40 investment initiatives with a total value of more than 54 billion dollars. Of these, 21 projects have already been implemented.

"Taking advantage of this opportune moment, I would like to note that our partnership in the industrial sector is becoming a two-way process. This is evident from the growth in exports of industrial goods from Kazakhstan to Germany. For example, during this visit, an agreement was reached on supplying products of the domestic machine-building sector to the German market, including railway wheels produced using German equipment," the president said.

Kassym-Jomart Tokayev stated that Kazakhstan is ready to expand cooperation with German companies in the fields of automation, machine tools, industrial robotics, machine building, advanced manufacturing and digitalization of processes.

The head of state addressed cooperation in the field of critical materials. Kazakhstan possesses 21 of the 34 types of raw materials recognized by the European Union as strategic resources.

"Germany needs reliable supply routes for raw materials that do not depend on a single direction. And Kazakhstan is interested in investment and advanced technology to build a chain of high value-added products. Building on this, a strong strategic synergy can be created. Identifying major projects covering all stages — from geological exploration and mining to processing and the production of high-tech materials in Kazakhstan — should be the next stage of cooperation," Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said.

According to the president, there is considerable potential for expanding partnership in agriculture as well.

"In 2025, trade in agricultural products increased by 23 percent, while agricultural exports from Kazakhstan to Germany rose by 38 percent. The next step is to implement joint projects that include the entire chain of producing high value-added products. That is, all stages must be fully covered — from science-based farming and water-saving production to processing, storage and export of products," the head of state said.

Another important area of joint work is energy. According to the president, Kazakhstan, as one of the countries supplying oil to Europe, makes a significant contribution to energy security.

"Our cooperation with Siemens Energy, including joint work with the operator of the national electric grids KEGOC, shows that there is considerable potential in this area. We propose expanding partnership in this field and drawing up a list of joint projects to modernize energy infrastructure. If these projects are economically efficient, some equipment should be produced in Kazakhstan rather than imported from abroad. Through the implementation of a specific investment project, it is possible to enter the markets of Central Asian countries," the president said.

The head of state also touched upon the topic of human capital development. Kassym-Jomart Tokayev highly praised Germany's dual vocational education system and recalled that there is a basis for deepening academic and professional ties.

"We propose creating a network of Kazakhstan-Germany industrial competence centers. It can be directly linked to the implementation of advanced projects. That is, we should rely on a simple principle: every major investment project should be a platform for training personnel. Only then will capital turn into knowledge, and knowledge into sustainable economic growth," the president said.