Washington shows strong interest in expanding cooperation with Kazakhstan on critical minerals

The event brought together Ambassador of Kazakhstan to the United States Magzhan Ilyassov, Senior Director of the “Atlantic Council’s” Eurasia Center John Herbst, representatives of the U.S. Government, American development finance institutions, businesses, and the expert community.

In his remarks, the Ambassador presented the key outcomes of the President of Kazakhstan’s visit to Washington, DC, and the “C5+1” Summit, including the signing commercial agreements worth over $17 billion and the conclusion of the region’s first MoU on critical minerals between Kazakhstan and the United States.

Ambassador Ilyassov emphasized that the Memorandum establishes an expanded partnership framework, providing for the development of processing facilities in Kazakhstan, technology transfer, and access of Kazakh-produced goods to the U.S. market.

As an example of the Memorandum’s practical implementation, the Ambassador highlighted the agreement with U.S. company “Cove Capital”, which envisages $1.1 billion in investment with the participation of American development finance institutions to support the production of high value-added goods in Kazakhstan.

Participants received detailed information on Kazakhstan’s favorable investment climate, including recent amendments to subsoil-use legislation aimed at enhancing transparency and openness of licensing procedures.

A representative of the national company “Kazakh Invest” presented around 50 ready-to-implement investment projects based on confirmed reserves of critical minerals and offering strong investment potential.

The event concluded with a Q&A session, during which participants reaffirmed their strong interest in deepening cooperation with Kazakhstan in the critical minerals sector, noted the significant potential for bilateral engagement, and expressed readiness for further joint work.