French President Emmanuel Macron arrived in Kazakhstan on Wednesday on his first official visit to that country.
Press service of the President of Kazakhstan reports that the Prime Minister of Kazakhstan Alikhan Smailov expressed confidence that during the visit Kazakhstan and France will be able to strengthen bilateral strategic partnership.
Then the French head of state met with Kazakh President Kasym-Jomart Tokayev at his residence “Akorda”. At the welcoming ceremony, the two leaders shook hands, introduced their ministers and listened to the national anthems. The presidential press service said:
The leaders of the two countries will hold talks on strengthening trade, economic, investment and energy cooperation, as well as discuss issues on the international and regional agenda.
Earlier, the office of the French president said that the heads of the two countries will discuss international and regional issues, as well as prospects for strengthening economic ties between the two countries, in particular, the development of trade and investment, cooperation in the energy sector.
After Kazakhstan, Macron will visit Uzbekistan together with ministers and heads of major corporations.
France wants to put its political and economic imprint on the energy-rich region. French energy giant EDF is bidding to build Kazakhstan’s first nuclear power plant, a project that is expected to be approved in a referendum this year.
The talks will also focus on the crucial minerals needed for clean energy technologies, which are abundant in the region. Macron’s delegation will include the head of French uranium company Orano, which already has a mine in Kazakhstan.
France is the fifth-largest foreign investor in Kazakhstan, ahead of China, mainly due to the participation of energy giant TotalEnergies in a large-scale project to develop the Kashagan offshore oil field. Trade turnover between France and Kazakhstan reached €5.3bn ($5.6bn) in 2022, and Kazakhstan supplies about 40 per cent of France’s uranium needs.
