The Presidents of
Kazakhstan and Estonia held talks during Alar Karis’s state visit. The welcoming ceremony took
place at Akorda. Kassym-Jomart Tokayev emphasized that Estonia is one of
Kazakhstan’s important strategic partners. Diplomatic relations were
established in 1992, after which the two countries developed a legal framework
and launched an intergovernmental commission on economic cooperation. Today,
both sides see strong potential for deeper partnership: Kazakhstan can offer
transit capacity, while Estonia can
provide
access to promising seaports.
«I believe that your visit
will give a strong impetus to our further cooperation and friendship. Yes,
there are some obstacles as to our mutual trade, but at the same time we have
progress in this area. We are very much interested to get access to your
seaports and to make trade with your country, as well as to sustain very
positive contacts in the international organizations, first of all, in the
United Nations, as well as in the UNSC and others,» Tokayev said.
«Businesspeople are already discussing businesses, we
have several meetings. We are going to have some memorandums of understanding,
quite a number, actually. I see the future in a very bright way and hope these
new contacts will help. Of course, geopolitical situation in the world is not
the best but we have to solve and tackle these problems as well. You mentioned
United Nations, this organization is important, and of course, we need some
reforms in this organization for the benefit, so that there are less conflicts
and less wars in the world,» Karis shared.
Negotiations continued in
an expanded format with the participation of both delegations. The parties discussed priority areas
of economic cooperation, including transport and logistics, trade and investment,
digitalization, industrial collaboration, agriculture, critical minerals, and
education and science. Over the past 20 years, Estonia has invested more than
$128 million in Kazakhstan’s economy. In the first nine months of this year,
bilateral trade totaled $46
million.
However, the potential remains
untapped.
«It marks a new chapter in Kazakh-Estonian mutually
beneficial partnership. Kazakhstan regards Estonia as a very important partner
in the Baltic region, as well as in the European Union as a whole. Contemporary
achievements of Estonia in building a truly innovative and welfare state are
extremely important and very much impressive. Estonia’s pioneering success in
digital governors has become a remarkable example of making e-government and
digital society as benchmarks of transparency, efficiency, and citizen
empowerment,» Tokayev noted.
More than 80 Estonian
companies currently operate in Kazakhstan, and interest continues to grow. A
large business delegation arrived in Astana, representing companies in information and communications technology,
cybersecurity, logistics, and transit. This year, Kazakhstan exported over
200,000 tonnes
of grain through Estonian seaports, and both sides aim to increase this volume
tenfold. Following the talks, Tokayev and Karis adopted a Joint Statement.
«Kazakhstan is the most
important economic partner for us in Central Asia. And Estonia would be glad to
be your gateway to the European market. And in addition to transit and logistic
you mentioned, Estonian businesses are eager to explore trade and investment
opportunities in Kazakhstan,» Karis added.
The parties also intend to expand
education
cooperation. Several agreements and memoranda were signed, including plans to exchange students, faculty, and expertise between
ten
Kazakh universities and six Estonian universities.
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