Prime Minister Alikhan Smailov and Vice President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) Alain Pilloux met on March 15 to discuss continuous mutual cooperation for the new EBRD Country Strategy for Kazakhstan for 2022-2026, reports Kapital.kz. 

The $10 billion plan

During the meeting, they discussed issues of further cooperation between Kazakhstan and the EBRD to implement joint projects in a number of areas, including attracting investment and environmental issues. In particular, the parties discussed the results of EBRD activities in Kazakhstan for 2021 and current plans for 2022.

The government and businesses of Kazakhstan are actively cooperating with the EBRD on infrastructure projects, on support for SMEs through the financial, municipal, and corporate sectors.

"We appreciate the strategic nature of our cooperation with the EBRD. This year, Kazakhstan and the EBRD are celebrating 30 years of cooperation. Over the three decades of our partnership, we have successfully completed some 300 projects worth over $10 billion in various sectors of the economy."

Further cooperation will be carried out within the framework of the new EBRD Country Strategy for Kazakhstan for 2022-2026. The document includes interaction between the parties on such issues as improving the competitiveness of the private enterprise, supporting green policies and carbon neutrality, as well as promoting economic integration and gender equality through private sector participation.

"Today there is a steady trend of decarbonization of the world's major economies. The number of countries that have declared goals for carbon neutrality and coal phase-out is growing every year. Kazakhstan also actively follows the global trends of "green" development," said the Prime Minister of Kazakhstan.

In turn, Pilloux praised the progress of reforms implemented in Kazakhstan and expressed interest in expanding bilateral cooperation on a wide range of issues.