Lord Alderdice strengthens UK–Kazakhstan ties on first official visit
The UK’s Trade Envoy to Azerbaijan and Central Asia, Lord Alderdice, has completed his first official visit to Kazakhstan. The visit focused on expanding trade and investment cooperation and identifying new opportunities in key sectors including education, mining and critical minerals, infrastructure, nuclear energy, and space, Kazinform News Agency correspondent reports.
During his visit, Lord Alderdice met with senior Kazakh government officials, including Deputy Prime Minister Roman Sklyar, as well as business leaders from both countries. The meetings aimed to strengthen commercial partnerships and encourage long-term collaboration between British and Kazakh companies across multiple industries.
Education was one of the central themes of the visit. Lord Alderdice visited the campuses of British universities including De Montfort University Kazakhstan, Cardiff University Kazakhstan and Coventry University Kazakhstan, which are bringing world-class British education to the region. With Minister of Science and Higher Education Sayasat Nurbek he discussed taking the two countries’ flourishing partnership to the next level.
He also visited Narxoz University, which last year launched a dual-degree program with Queen’s University Belfast. Other successful collaborations include partnerships between the Kazakh-British Technical University (KBTU) and the London School of Economics, and between Zhubanov Aktobe Regional University and Heriot-Watt University. Glasgow University is also exploring opportunities for cooperation with Nazarbayev University, KBTU, and Narxoz. In secondary education, several prestigious British schools, including Haileybury and Ardingly, are already established in Kazakhstan, while Charterhouse plans to open its first campus in the country in 2026.
During the AIFC visit, Lord Alderdice had the opportunity to see how English law is being used to support business establishment in Kazakhstan.
"Kazakhstan is a key partner for the UK in Central Asia and there is immense potential for expanding our trade and investment partnership across multiple strategic sectors. We must now build on this momentum and unlock opportunities that will benefit businesses and communities in both our countries," Lord Alderdice said during the visit.
The visit highlights the UK’s broader commitment to strengthening economic cooperation with Kazakhstan and supporting sustainable growth across priority sectors. Total trade between the two nations reached £2.9 billion in the year to March 2025, underscoring the growing importance of the partnership.
In recent years, the UK and Kazakhstan have achieved notable progress in various fields including education, agriculture, mining, creative industries, infrastructure, and biodiversity. Key milestones include the opening of British university campuses and schools in Kazakhstan, partnerships in critical minerals, and innovative projects such as the world’s first satellite internet service on trains, developed by OneWeb in cooperation with Kazakhstan Temir Zholy. Joint initiatives have also promoted UK expertise in creative and infrastructure sectors, while a bilateral roadmap has deepened collaboration in agriculture and mining.
One of the most prominent examples of this partnership is Kazakhstan’s Altyn Dala Initiative, mentored by the UK’s Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), which won the prestigious Earthshot Prize for its groundbreaking conservation work.
Earlier, Kazinform News Agency reported that the UK government had announced the roll-out of a new digital ID scheme aimed at tackling illegal working and simplifying access to essential public services.
