Hollande Met Kazakh President Noursoultan Nazarbaïev in Paris

Kazakh President Noursoultan Nazarbaïev met with François Hollande at the Elysée Palace on 5 November as part of a two days official visit in France.

The reception was aimed to strengthen the economic ties between both countries in different areas of cooperation including hydrocarbon production. Patrick Pouyanné, CEO of Total, spoke with the Kazakh President about the development of the Kashagan field and other investments to come.

He was among the top heads of French companies such as Airbus, Alstom Transport, Vicat, Soufflet, Rothschild Group, Veolia Asia, Areva attended the event. “At least 5 billion dollars contrats were expected to be sign during Nazarbaïev visit whether it’s the supply of uranium to France, the automotive industry, water supply”.

The planned privatizations and the willingness to create an international financial center in Astana, the Kazakh capital, are big opportunities. 130 French companies are currently doing business operates in Kazakhstan. “Over the last decade, the French business investment in our economy amounted to about $ 12 billion with a trade turnover of $ 6 billion in recent years despite the difficult external conditions”, Nazarbaïev reportedly said. 24 French companies have already implemented projects in Kazakhstan for more than $ 2 billion: 14 projects at the implementation stage and 10 in the long term.

The French delegation signed a participation contract to the Astana 2017 World Exhibition (Expo-2017) which will focus on the future of energy. Speaking of clean energies, the two heads of state called for an “ambitious deal” at the United Nations Climate Change conference in Paris which will begin at the end of the month. 

Kevin Bonnaud