Kazakhstan and Finland are interested in further development of cooperation across the whole spectrum of relations, with a special focus on green technologies. The success of EXPO-2017 in Astana and Finland’s participation in it have laid the foundation for such collaboration. This was said during meetings in Helsinki last week between Kazakhstan Deputy Foreign Minister Roman Vassilenko and Finnish partners in governmental, legislative and business circles, the Kazakh Foreign Ministry reported.
A newly created QazFinnTec Kazakh-Finnish centre for the transfer of green technologies in the Finnish capital was hailed as a key event in bilateral relations. The centre set up by private Finnish companies with an active assistance from the Kazakh Embassy in Helsinki aims to facilitate implementation of projects in Kazakhstan with the use of advanced Finnish technologies in such areas as the use of renewable energy sources, recycling of household waste into biogas, and sewage treatment.
In his welcoming speech at a special presentation in Helsinki, Vassilenko noted QazFinnTec’s timely launch in light of the importance of securing the legacy of EXPO-2017, as well as convergence of fast-growing Asian markets with high-tech Europe. Vassilenko emphasized the significance of this initiative in light of Kazakhstan’s policy of political, economic and social modernization put forward by President Nursultan Nazarbayev.
The activity of the new centre, supported by the Energy Ministry of Kazakhstan and the Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC), will also contribute to strengthening Kazakhstan’s role as the leading industrial, innovative, technological, financial and logistics hub in Central Asia.
State Secretary for Foreign Economic Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland Markku Keinänen gave high marks to the prospects of cooperation within the framework of the established Centre. He stressed that Kazakhstan’s modernization strategy was of great importance in the context of entire Central Asia’s development.
In his opinion, Finland’s participation in EXPO-2017, which included visits by Finnish President Sauli Niinistö and other sectorial ministers, has given new quality substance to bilateral relations, spurred growing interest of Finnish and international businesses in Kazakhstan, and identified new niches for cooperation. “Today, there are unique opportunities for mutually complementary and mutually beneficial cooperation between our countries on the basis of AIFC, the International Centre for the Transfer of Green Technologies, and the International Park of IT Start-ups,” concluded Keinänen.
