Astana Calling #272

Astana Calling

Issue No 272 FRIDAY, 28 SEPTEMBER 2012 www.mfa.kz A weekly online publication of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan

New Ministerial Appointments Announced Prime Minister and other key ministers

Kazakhstan at the UN General Assembly Rule of law and sustainable energy discussed

Investment Forum in Western Kazakhstan New agreements on future joint ventures

Turkish Parliament Chairman Visits Kazakhstan Calls for strengthening of parliamentary ties

Things to Watch

Trade links with Germany Focus of Visit Chairman of German business organization in Kazakhstan

Ski-Jumping Grand Prix Comes to Almaty Top athletes converge on Sunkar stadium

Also in the News

New Ministerial Appointments Announced A new Prime Minister, a new Minister of Economic Development and Trade and a new Foreign Minister were among several appointments made by President Nararbayev this week. Serik Akhmetov became Prime Minister on September 24 after long-serving incumbent Karim Massimov and his cabinet resigned earlier in the day.

Mr Massimov served almost six years as Prime Minister – longer than any other since Kazakhstan became independent in 1991.

He is widely credited with helping to steer Kazakhstan through the global economic crisis, during which economic growth was maintained, bolstered by rising prices for oil and natural gas.

Accepting Mr Massimov’s resignation on Monday, the President thanked him for his service and emphasized that it was Mr Massimov who had made the decision to resign. Mr Massimov will now take up the position of head of the presidential administration, where he will continue to work closely with the President.

“[The appointment] of the new Prime Minister, Serik Akhmetov...will ensure continuity and a smooth transfer of power...in this turbulent time in the global economy” President Nazarbayev

Serik Akhmetov was appointed Prime Minister after deputies from all three parties in the Majilis (parliament) had unanimously approved the President’s choice. President Nazarbayev described Mr Akhmetov as a highly effective politician who has risen rapidly through the ranks to become First Deputy Prime Minister. His appointment as Prime Minister would ensure continuity and a smooth transfer of power, enabling Kazakhstan to continue with the successful implementation of government policy and to prepare for any further wave of global economic turmoil, he said.

The new Prime Minister served as Governor of Karaganda Region of northern Kazakhstan from November 2009 before his appointment as First Deputy Prime Minister in January this year. Born in Karaganda in 1958, he trained as a metallurgical engineer at the Karaganda technical college and completed a doctorate in economics at the Russian Academy of Management.

During his early career he worked at the Karmetkombinat metalworks in Karaganda. He later headed the Central Kazakhstan Commodity Exchange before being appointed Mayor of Temirtau (Karaganda Region) in 1998. From 2003 to 2004 he was First Deputy Mayor of Astana. In 2006 he was appointed Minister of Transport and Communications and became Deputy Prime Minister in 2009. He was made First Deputy Prime Minister in January 2012.

The new Minister of Economic Development and Trade, 42 year-old Erbolat Dosayev, is an electronic engineer by training and was Deputy Chairman of TuranAlem Bank and Chairman of ATF Bank before becoming advisor to the Prime Minister of Kazakhstan in 1998. From 1998 to 2000 he was Vice-Minister of Energy, Industry and Trade before becoming Deputy Finance Minister in 2000. He was appointed Finance Minister in 2002, and subsequently served as Health Minister from 2004 to 2006. Most recently, Mr Dosayev has been the Chairman of “KazInvestBank”.

The former Minister of Economic Development and Trade, Bakytzhan Sagintaev, moves to the position of first deputy chairman of the ruling Nur-Otan political party.

President Nazarbayev announces the new Ministerial appointments

On September 28, Erlan Idrissov was appointed Foreign Minister. Since 2007 Mr Idrissov has been Kazakhstan’s Ambassador to the United States. He is a career diplomat who has also served in New York (1992-1995) and as Ambassador to the United Kingdom (2002-2007). From 1995-1996 he was an Assistant to the President on international issues and became First ViceMinister of Foreign Affairs in 1997, before being appointed Foreign Minister in 1999. He held this post until his move to London in 2002 from where he was also Kazakhstan’s Ambassador to Ireland, Norway and Sweden. He studied international relations in Moscow and speaks English, French, Hindi and Urdu. Minister Idrissov’s predecessor, Yerzhan Kazykhanov, has been appointed Assistant to the President.

Earlier in the week, President Nazarbayev appointed Serik Abdenov Minister of Labor and Social Protection. Born in 1977 in the Karaganda Region, Mr Abdenov graduated with a first-class degree in law in 1998 and worked for two years as a legal specialist in the Ministry of Justice. He later joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and worked in business, before moving to the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection. He also served as Deputy Governor of the East Kazakhstan Region. His predecessor, Gulshara Abdykalikova, has been appointed Advisor to the President.

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Kazakhstan at the UN General Assembly On September 24, during the High-level Meeting of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on the Rule of Law, Kazakhstan drew attention to the substantial reforms which it has carried out since independence in 1991. These include, in particular, strengthening statehood, developing legislation, building effective and open mechanisms for the development of individuals and society, and raising living standards.

The meeting was an opportunity for UN Member States, together with non-governmental organizations and civil society represented at the highest level, to discuss and agree a forward looking agenda on strengthening the rule of law.

Kazakhstan has signed over 190 international agreements and conventions and continues to support a stronger role for the UN’s legal mechanisms and progress in the rule of law at all levels.

Kazakhstan’s delegation to the UNGA includes Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Kairat Umarov, UN Permanent Representative Bygranym Aitmatova, Ambassador to the US Erlan Idrissov, and MFA heads of department.

“Sustainable Energy for All is the answer to some of the key challenges of our time.

Energy poverty, inequality, economic growth, environmental risks. This is a 21stcentury multi-stakeholder partnership for a 21st-century United Nations.”

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon addressing high-level event on Sustainable Energy for All, September 24

During another High-level Meeting dedicated to sustainable energy, Kazakhstan’s representatives explained President Nazarbayev’s proposals for a Global Energy Strategy and the international Green Bridge partnership program. They called on the community of nations to promote these initiatives.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon reported to the meeting on the UN’s Sustainable Energy for All initiative launched a year earlier. He called for bold policies and innovative partnerships between the public and private sectors to achieve by 2030 the aims of providing universal access to modern energy services and doubling the share of renewables in the global energy mix.

Kazakhstan’s proposals for a Global Energy Strategy and a Green Bridge partnership are an important contribution toward these sobjectives.

The General Assembly was also an opportunity for a meeting of senior officials from participating countries of the Istanbul process on Afghanistan with Afghanistan’s Foreign Minister Zalmai Rassoul. The regional grouping discussed progress on agreements reached during recent meetings in Istanbul and Kabul, as well as preparations for the ministerial conference in Astana in April 2013.

On 25 September, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) ministerial troika and European Union met for regular consultations. Participants included Kazakhstan’s Chairman of the OIC Foreign Ministers Council, OIC Secretary General Ekmeleddin İhsanoğlu and EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Catherine Ashton. The sides discussed cooperation between the OIC and the EU, and exchanged views on the situation in Palestine, Syria and Myanmar. They also looked at the implementation of UN Human Rights Council Resolution 16/18 which focuses on specific measures that countries can take to combat various forms of religious intolerance, including incitement to violence.

“We reaffirm that human rights, the rule of law and democracy are interlinked and mutually reinforcing and that they belong to the universal and indivisible core values and principles of the United Nations.”

Declaration of the High-level Meeting of the General Assembly on the Rule of Law at the National and International Levels

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Investment Forum in Western Kazakhstan On September 24-26 Aktau welcomed 500 delegates from 35 countries around the world, at an investment forum on the “Establishment of New Industries in Western Kazakhstan”.

The aim was to discuss ways of developing the western regions of Kazakhstan, by creating new local industries to meet the demand of large oil and gas projects, as well as identifying investment opportunities in other sectors of the regional economy.

“…increasing local Kazakhstani content and the establishment of new industries with foreign and local partners is a strategic priority as is our work with the population of the oil-producing regions.”

Lyazzat Kiinov, KMG Chairman

Organized by the national oil and gas company KazMunaiGas (KMG), the event had the official support of Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Oil and Gas and Ministry of Industry and New Technologies, as well as regional government and the Foreign Investors’ Council.

Kazakhstan has proven oil reserves of 30 billion barrels and daily production in 2011 of 1.64m barrels. Since independence in 1991, oil production has risen steadily, driven by significant volumes of foreign investment. Chevron entered Kazakhstan during the Soviet era and is now the largest oil producer in the country; other international oil companies operating in Kazakhstan include ExxonMobil, Shell, Total, ConocoPhillips, Eni, CNPC, PetroChina and LukOil. KMG was created in 2002 to protect and manage the state’s interests in the oil and gas industry. In recent years, KMG has taken an increasingly active role in oil and gas sector development, as it now holds a majority stake in all new projects and joint ventures.

Kazakhstan’s oil reserves are concentrated in the western regions, where the five largest onshore fields (Tengiz, Karachaganak, Aktobe, Mangistau and Uzen) account for about half of current proven reserves.

“Western Kazakhstan is a new and interesting market with huge economic potential…[and]… substantial opportunities for businesses seeking to become partners in developing the economy.”

Lord Waverley, Chairman of the Britain-Kazakhstan Inter-Parliamentary Group in the British Parliament

While the enormous oil and gas reserves of Kazakhstan have attracted substantial foreign investment and transfer of technology, there are still important opportunities to develop the local economy in oil-producing centres.

A key priority of KMG is to ensure that western Kazakhstan will see tangible benefits, in the form of jobs and opportunities for local business and suppliers, from the further development of its oil fields and export pipelines.

This week’s forum in Aktau brought together heads of international and Kazakhstani oil companies with equipment producers and service companies, as well as representatives of foreign chambers of commerce and other associations.

The emphasis was on a practical approach to future projects in western Kazakhstan, including how to resolve specific technical issues, create job opportunities and develop content from local suppliers. While the oil and gas industry was the primary area of focus, other sectors including agriculture, tourism, renewable energy and machine building also featured in the discussions.

Speakers at the forum included Sauat Mynbayev, Minister of Oil and Gas; Lyazzat Kiinov, Chairman of KMG; Tim Miller, General Director of Tengizchevroil; and Lord Waverley, Chairman of the Britain-Kazakhstan Inter-Parliamentary Group in the British Parliament.

The forum closed with the signing of several agreements and memoranda between KMG and foreign companies on the creation of new production facilities and jobs in western Kazakhstan. These include joint ventures with Castle Oil & Gas Fields Services (UAE) to create an industrial park in Zhanaozen; with China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) to produce hi-tech equipment used for longwall mining; and with Vallourec-Mannesman (a Franco-German joint venture) to produce premium components for seamless steel pipes.

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Turkish Parliament Chairman Visits Kazakhstan The Speaker of Turkey’s Parliament Cemil Cicek was welcomed by Majilis Chairman Nurlan Nigmatulin and Chairman of the Senate Kairat Mami at the start of his visit to Kazakhstan on September 26-28. Mr Cicek, who was accompanied by a parliamentary delegation, went on to address the Senate and meet with President Nazarbayev.

In his speech to the Senate, Mr Cicek said that Kazakhstan is now the most important commercial and economic partner for Turkey in Central Asia.

The volume of Turkish investment in Kazakhstan has reached USD 2.5bn, while the economic value of construction projects completed in Kazakhstan

by Turkish construction companies amounts to over USD 20 bn.

Highlighting the resilience shown by both the Turkish and Kazakhstani economies to the global economic crisis, during which both have continued to show strong growth, Mr Cicek envisaged ongoing development of the strong economic relationship between the two countries.

President Nazarbayev welcomes Chairman of the Turkish Parliament Cemil Cicek

Joint ventures have proliferated in recent years and over 3,440 Turkish companies now have a presence on the ground in Kazakhstan. The planned Kazakh-Turkish Industrial Zone is expected to further develop these ties: the 40-hectare zone will be situated in southern Kazakhstan, close to a local airport and the Western-Europe-Western China highway to facilitate exports.

“My trip this time is aimed at further activating and strengthening relations between the parliaments of our two countries.”

Cemil Cicek, Speaker of the Turkish Parliament

Mr Cicek praised Kazakhstan for the leading role it has taken in the region as well as in maintaining global peace and security.

Continued close cooperation between Turkey and Kazakhstan is, he said, essential to maintaining peace and stability in Eurasia.

President Nazarbayev and Mr Cicek discussed bilateral cooperation issues and the development of relations between the parliaments of Kazakhstan and Turkey.

President Nazarbayev described Kazakhstan and Turkey as “brotherly states”, with a strong relationship on both the cultural and economic fronts, and highlighted the presence of over 20 Kazakh-Turkish schools and two universities within Kazakhstan. He welcomed the ongoing dialogue with Turkey’s President Abdullah Gul and the recent visit to Kazakhstan

by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Emphasizing the role of the Cooperation Council of Turkic Speaking States in further deepening the relationship of mutual trust, the President called for a strengthening of parliamentary ties between the two states.

Mr Cicek said that every time he returns to Kazakhstan he notes the further positive development of Astana and the country. The purpose of this visit, he said, was to strengthen relations between the parliaments of Turkey and Kazakhstan. Mr Cicek also expressed his pleasure at the high level of participation in the activities of Astana’s Yunus Emre Turkish Cultural Center, which was inaugurated by President Gul during his 2010 visit to Kazakhstan.

“We are brotherly states that are cooperating actively both in the economy and the cultural sphere…a clear indication of the mutual trust and high speed of development in relations between our countries. It is important that parliamentary ties between Kazakhstan and Turkey are strengthened to a similarly high level.”

President Nazarbayev

Mr Cicek’s visit closed with an address to the students of Suleyman Demirel University, which was opened in 1996.

Relations between the Kazakhstan and Turkey have deepened significantly in recent years, not only bilaterally, but also on the regional and international fronts. The Cooperation Council of Turkic Speaking States (CCTS) was established in 2009 as a new intergovernmental organization, with the principal aim of promoting comprehensive cooperation among the four Member States – Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Turkey. Recent CCTS summits were held in Istanbul in 2010 and in Almaty in 2011. Kazakhstan was a strong supporter of Turkey’s candidacy for the position of dialogue partner to the Shanghai Cooperation Council (SCO), which was approved at the June 2012 SCO summit in Beijing.

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Trade links with Germany Focus of Visit On September 27 Dr Eckhard Cordes, Chairman of Germany’s Committee on Eastern European Economic Relations, met with President Nazarbayev in Astana and addressed the Berlin Eurasian Club at the LN Gumilev Eurasian National University.

The Committee on Eastern European Economic Relations is the longest-standing regional initiative of the German business community, with a history stretching back to 1952. Managed by the Federation of German Industries, the Committee represents the interests of German companies doing business in Central and Eastern Europe, South-East Europe, Central Asia, the Caucasian Republics, Russia and the Baltic States.

Dr Eckhard Cordes has had a long and distinguished career in German business, during which he has held senior and Board positions in the DaimlerChrysler Group, AEG AG and Metro AG; he is currently CEO and Chairman of the Management Board at Franz Haniel & Cie GmbH.

President Nazarbayev and Dr Eckhard Cordes in Astana

In his meeting with President Nazarbayev, Dr Cordes welcomed the positive dynamic in bilateral relations between Kazakhstan and Germany since the President’s visit to Berlin in February this year, which concluded with a landmark cooperation agreement giving German firms greater access to strategic raw materials in exchange for technology and know-how. As part of the deal, German companies including Siemens, Linde and ThyssenKrupp signed 50 separate contracts worth a total of three billion euros.

President Nazarbayev welcomed the opportunity to review progress on the strategic agreement and thanked Dr Cordes for his support of the business forum that took place during the Berlin visit. He also welcomed the German government’s support for Kazakhstan’s bid to host Expo-2017 in Astana.

In his address to the Berlin Eurasian Club at the Eurasian National University, Dr Cordes recommended that Kazakhstan focus on forging stronger links between the Eurasian Economic Union and the European Union, in order to realise the enormous potential for trade between the two regions.

However, Dr Cordes noted that dialogue between the Eurasian Economic Community and the European Union may be complicated by the fact that Belarus will not beome a WTO member in the foreseeable future. Dr Cordes expects Kazakhstan to accede to WTO membership in 2013.

Trade between Germany and Kazakhstan has developed rapidly in recent years, with a 20 per cent increase in 2011 to a total of six billion euros. Kazakhstan’s National Agency for Export and Investment, Kaznex Invest, expects the strategic agreement to lead to a mutually beneficial evolution in the type of trade and investment between the two countries.

Germany will share technologies and build production lines in exchange for raw materials, while Kazakhstan will increase its ability to process mineral resources into high value added products.

Developing cooperation between the small and medium-sized companies of both countries is also a priority; potential has been identified in a number of sectors including metal-making, the chemical industry, mechanical engineering and tourism.

The SME sector is also the focus of the Manager Training Programme run by the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology (BMWi), which each year brings around 60 Kazakhstani executives to Germany for one- or three-month training programmes in German firms. Over 300 executives from Kazakhstan have completed the advanced training programme since 2010, with highly positive, tangible results in terms of cooperation projects between German and Kazakhstani firms.

“I would like to note the positive dynamic in bilateral relations between Kazakhstan and Germany that have recently become more active. The agreements that we signed in February this year are very important for the economies of our two countries.”

Dr Eckhard Cordes

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Ski-Jumping Grand Prix Comes to Almaty Over the weekend of September 22-23 Almaty hosted top athletes from around the world, competing in the second stage of the summer ski-jumping Grand Prix.

The “Sunkar” ski-jumping center was the ideal venue for the closing stage of the Grand Prix. Located only a stone’s throw from the city center of Almaty, Sunkar includes five ski-ramps: world-class K-125 and K-95 ramps; K-60, K-40 and K-20 ramps for children and training; and a 20,000-seat stadium, media center and training school for young jumpers. Sunkar was enlarged and upgraded in 2010 and the inaugural event for the world-class facilities was the FIS Continental Cup’s jumping competitions in September 2010; this was followed by the successful hosting of the 7th Asian Winter Games in January-February 2011.

Athletes from 15 countries gathered in Almaty, among them four-times Olympic champion Simon Ammann. This year is the first time women have participated in the ski-jumping Grand Prix, so all eyes were on the women athletes from eight countries, who had competed in the first stage in France earlier this year.

After two days of competition, Japan’s Sara Takanashi took both first place in the Almaty event and the overall title in the first ever women’s Grand Prix with a score of 312 points. Canada’s Alexandra Pretorius recovered from a slow start in Almaty - when she placed eleventh in the first round – to take third place in Almaty and hold second place in the Grand Prix with 249 points. Daniela Iraschko from Austria, who did not compete in Almaty, took third place in the Grand Prix on the strength of her 180-point performance in France. Russia’s Irina Avvkumova placed second at the Almaty event.

Germany’s Andreas Wank remains in the lead of the overall men’s Grand Prix ranking with 409 points. Taku Takeuchi from Japan claimed his first international win at the Almaty event. Slovenia’s Jurij Tepes took second place both in Almaty and the overall Grand Prix, with a total score of 346. Third place in the Grand Prix ranking is now held by Switzerland’s Simon Ammann.

The men’s summer Grand Prix continues next weekend in Hinzenbach (AUT) with an individual competition, before the series draws to a close three days later in Klingenthal.

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Also in The News…

• Kazakhstan’s ratings and forecasts remain unchanged after the Prime Minister’s resignation, according to ratings agency Standard & Poor’s. “We believe that changes in the cabinet and new appointments to follow after Serik Akhmetov’s appointment as Prime Minister will not have much influence on the effectiveness, stability and predictability of political decisions made by Kazakhstan’s government, and Kazakhstan’s political institutions”, S&P reported.

• Almaty’s territory has been increased. The city of Almaty will have 11,920 hectares of land from the Almaty Region added to its overall area, as well as 8,360 hectares from the Karasay Region and 3,560 hectares from the Talgarsky Region. This move is to ensure environmental security, the development of tourism, infrastructure for industry, construction for the 2017 Winter Universiade, and to expand motorways.

• The Vice Minister of Industry and New Technologies, Asset Assekeshev, has drawn up five plans to develop the tourism sector. The first plan is wide in scope; it will look to amend legislation and develop infrastructure and raise Kazakhstan’s image as a tourist destination. The other four are focused on developing tourism in the East Kazakhstan Region, ‘Kinderli’ resort, ‘Burabay’ resort and in the ski resort outside Almaty. The Vice Minister said that this new program could create up to 150,000 permanent jobs and attract USD 5-7 billion of private investment.

• On September 26 President Nazarbayev spoke by telephone with President Karimov of Uzbekistan and discussed bilateral cooperation and implementation of the agreements made during President Karimov’s visit to Kazakhstan at the beginning of September. The two leaders were very positive about the results of the visit and reiterated that international experts would need to be consulted about the plan to build hydraulic structures on the upstream part of the Syr Darya river, and that the views of all interested parties would have to be considered.

• Deputy Minister of Health, Aida Kurmangaliyeva, has announced that Kazakhstan will be spending 1.5 trillion tenge (USD 9.83 billion) on health improvements in the country. According to the Minister, life expectancy is expected to increase to 70.1 years and the mortality rate will drop to 7.6 per 1000 people. Furthermore, maternal and child mortality rates are expected to decrease by 47% and 29%, respectively, in comparison to 2010. Kazakhstan is currently implementing large-scale reforms to its healthcare and pharmaceutical sectors.

• Kazakhstani military servicemen and women came third out of seven CIS countries in the international competition ‘Soldier of the Commonwealth’ that took place in Moscow last week. Representatives of the Kazakh army were awarded medals for ‘Strengthening the military commonwealth’, diplomas and certificates, as well as souvenirs and gifts for ‘The Will to Triumph’.

• The Majilis (parliament) has approved a draft law on ratifying ILO Convention 156 ‘Concerning Equal Opportunities and Equal Treatment for Men and Women Workers: Workers with Family Responsibilities’. The Convention applies to men and women workers with family responsibilities in relation to their dependent children, where these responsibilities restrict their possibilities of preparing for, entering or advancing in economic activity. Article 3.1 is quoted in the conclusion of the Majilis committee: “National policy aims to enable people with family responsibilities who are engaged or wish to engage in employment to exercise their right to do so without being subject to discrimination, and to the extent possible, without conflict between their employment and family responsibilities.”

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• Kazakh film ‘Anshy bala’ (Little hunter), has won best children’s film prize at ‘Kinoshok-2012’ film festival in Anapa, Russia.

Produced by ‘Kazakhfilm’, ‘Anshy bala’ received high marks from all 15 members of the jury. Two other ‘Kazakhfilm’ productions were shown at the festival: ‘Kinalegend: Tainstvenny les’ (Cinema legends: The Secret Forest) and ‘Vozvrashchenie v A’ (Back to A). ‘Anshy bala’ also won the prize for ‘Best Foreign Drama’ at the International Family Film Festival in Hollywood, March 2012. The film has been on sale since August 2012.

• Chairman of the International Weightlifting Federation and Member of the International Olympic Committee, Tamas Ajan, has been awarded Kazakhstan’s state medal “Dostyk” (Friendship) second class. Dr Ajan received the medal from Prime Minister Akhmetov who thanked him for his work with the Olympic Committee and for popularizing weightlifting across the world.

• The Swiss tennis star, Martina Hingis, will visit Kazakhstan on October 1-2 to try to popularize and develop children’s tennis in Kazakhstan. As part of her visit, she will lead master classes in Astana and Almaty for young tennis players. During her playing career, Hingis was World Number One in 1997, 1999 and 2000 and a five time Grand Slam Singles winner.

Things to Watch…

• The 4th session of the Kazakh-Norwegian working group on energy cooperation will take place on October 2nd.

• The 20th Kazakhstan International Oil and Gas Conference (KIOGE) will take place October 2-5, in Almaty. This year’s theme is “Kazakhstan’s oil and gas industry: new horizons for growth”. Exhibitors will include CNPC, KazMunaiHas, MOL, Rosneft and Tengizchevroil. Daniel Stein, senior adviser to the U.S. State Department’s special envoy for Eurasian energy will be a speaker.

• Finland’s Minister of European affairs and trade, Alexander Stubb, will visit Kazakhstan on October 2-5 with a business delegation of over 70 corporate representatives.

ASTANA CALLING is a weekly online publication of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan Please send your requests and questions to pressa@mfa.kz

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