MINSK, 18 November (BelTA) – Belarus and Kazakhstan intend to set up a joint venture to make utility vehicles of the Belarusian mechanical engineering company Amkodor in Nur-Sultan, Nur-Sultan Mayor Altay Kulginov said as he met with Minsk Mayor Anatoly Sivak in Minsk on 18 November, BelTA has learned.
The meeting was held as a follow-up to the visit of the Belarusian president to Kazakhstan. “The Kazakh delegation has come to Belarus to fulfill the tasks set by the heads of state. Our cooperation holds a lot of promise, especially in mechanical engineering. We seek to launch a joint venture in Nur-Sultan. The city is home to a free economic zone and an industrial park. We would like to set up a plant to make utility vehicles there. This project would open up great opportunities for Amkodor and for us,” Altay Kulginov said.
He added that such cooperation is promising thanks to the big market of the two countries and strong ties between Kazakhstan and China, which gives joint Belarus-Kazakhstan ventures access to this market.
Kazakhstan considered several Belarusian companies and eventually decided in favor of Amkodor, Chairman of the Board of AO Allur Group Andrei Lavrentyev said. “Kazakhstan analyzed the demand for utility vehicles across regions. We see now that the joint venture will be quite successful. We have already prepared the financial documents and terms of reference of the project and already got a site in an industrial park. We hope to conclude the negotiations and launch the project in mid-2020,” Andrei Lavrentyev added.
The Kazakh delegation is also set to visit Belarus' Hi-Tech Park. “Another promising area of cooperation with Belarus is digitalization. This sector has been growing by leaps and bounds in Belarus, and Kazakhstan is interested in joint projects with the Hi-Tech Park. Developing this sphere is a must today,” Altay Kulginov noted.
Minsk and Nur-Sultan will celebrate the 20th anniversary of the twinning agreement in 2020. Altay Kulginov invited Anatoly Sivak to visit the capital of Kazakhstan to discuss new projects in the industrial sector, cooperation between small and medium-sized enterprises, and Belarus-Kazakhstan ties in tourism and sport.
