Belgian diplomacy prioritizes Central Asia – Maxime Prévot
As part of the official visit of the President of Kazakhstan, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, to Brussels, Minister of Foreign Affairs Yermek Kosherbayev has held negotiations with his Belgian counterpart Maxime Prévot, Qazinform News Agency reports.
The sides highly praised the current state of the Kazakh-Belgian relations and discussed opportunities for comprehensive development of the political dialogue, expansion of trade-economic and humanitarian contacts.
The meeting also focused on the issues related to the development of transport-logistics infrastructure and strengthening transit potential of the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route.
Kosherbayev emphasized Kazakhstan’s readiness to create favorable conditions for the implementation of joint projects and further enhance business contacts.
The parties also highlighted strong cooperation potential in education and science and collaboration with the leading universities and research centers of the two countries. Thus, KU Leuven, Ghent University and IMEC (Interuniversity Microelectronics Centre) are expressing interest in developing partnership.
The sides also explored the potential for cooperation at multilateral platforms and exchanged views on the relevant issues of regional and global agenda.
Following the talks, the sides expressed mutual interest in further strengthening of the Kazakhstan-Belgium cooperation and implementation of joint initiatives in priority spheres.
In an interview with Qazinform, Maxime Prévot shared the outcomes of the talks with the Kazakh delegation.
“That was the first contact - a very interesting one, because you know, I have decided also to consider Central Asia as one of top priorities of the Belgian diplomacy. Kazakhstan is the largest country and the only one when we have an embassy. We intend to open another one in Uzbekistan in the coming months,” said Maxime Prévot.
“We have lots of opportunities to work in semiconductors, energy sector, of course, defense sector, nuclear power plants. We also intend to develop our own strategy. So we can count on critical raw materials of Kazakhstan. I think that we will really have good outcomes of this visit and it will be only the beginning of very good and strong stories between our two countries. Belgium is the gateway to Europe, and I am sure that Kazakhstan will be the gateway to Central Asia,” said he.
It should be noted that in 2025, trade turnover between the two countries increased by 27.6% and reached $582.4 million. Last year, the gross inflow of foreign direct investment from Belgium amounted to $1.044 billion. 110 enterprises with Belgian capital are operating in Kazakhstan today.
Earlier, Qazinform reported that President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev arrived in Brussels on an official visit. The Head of State met with citizens of Kazakhstan currently studying or working in Belgium. Ahead of talks with EU leadership, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev held an informal meeting with European Council President António Costa.
