We must be pragmatic – Kazakh President on expansion of non-hydrocarbon sectors of economy
Head of State Kassym-Jomart Tokayev gave an exclusive interview to Qatari TV channel Al Jazeera today, Kazinform News Agency reports.
Al Jazeera: I'm curious, because you mentioned so by 2029, you hope to grow, I think these non-hydrocarbon sectors. And right now, I think the hydrocarbon sectors, they account for over 50% of Kazakhstan's exports. Do you think you can achieve a rebalance of that or achieve a situation where your non-hydrocarbon exports are the majority by 2029?
Yes. Hydrocarbon export, frankly speaking, still will be a majority of our trade to the international market. We should continuously be pragmatic. And I said that Kazakhstan is going to become a non-hydrocarbon country in 2060. It's quite, I think, very much pragmatic and I would say a modest program based on what we do have and on what we are going to have. Coal in our inner or domestic energy balance accounts for 73%. We cannot give up coal just overnight. We have natural resources like oil. In terms of producing uranium we are number one in the world, 40% of the world market belongs to Kazakhstan.
Previously, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev talked about the alternative routes of transporting the Kazakh oil in the interview with Al Jazeera.
