"During the past 30 years," said Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz during a visit to Berlin by Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, President of Kazakhstan, on Thursday "relations between our two countries have steadily deepened. During this time, we have developed a gratifying level of cooperation, upon which we would like to continue to build."

Kassym-Jomart Tokayev was born in Almaty in 1953. He has been the President of Kazakhstan since 2019.

The trade relations environment

The Federal Chancellor said that the two countries had agreed to cooperate on improving the conditions for more trade and investment, whereby legal certainty plays a major role for German companies wishing to invest in Kazakhstan.

President Tokayev, he said, had presented him with his plans for the expansion of the rule of law, the observance of human rights, and for democratic principles in Kazakhstan, which, as the Federal Chancellor underlined, was also important in terms of corporate development.

Raw materials partnership: simplifying transport routes

Scholz referred to Kazakhstan as an important partner for expanding Germany's supply routes, for example for importing crude oil with a view to becoming independent of Russian energy supplies. The same, he added, applied with regard to crucial raw materials needed to bring about the energy transition.

"We have agreed to expedite the expansion of the necessary transport routes," Scholz said, "whereby the focus is on the expansion of the so-called Middle Corridor".

The "Middle Corridor" is a logistics route that connects Asia and Europe bypassing Russia, whose importance is increasing in light of the Russian offensive against Ukraine and the associated sanctions against Russia.

Climate protection concerns everybody

As the Federal Chancellor emphasised: "We in Germany are convinced that climate change and protecting the environment are global challenges that can only be tackled together." Scholz explained that the Central Asian countries are among the "hotspots" of climate change, and that the effects will be even more noticeable there going forward, which, he added, was why Germany was supporting the region to make it more resilient. The "Green Central Asia" strategy, which was initiated by Germany, he said, provided the essential framework for the necessary cooperation.

Scholz: Putin must end the war

Another point of discussion was the Russian offensive against Ukraine. "The German position is clear," the Federal Chancellor stated: "The Russian offensive is a blatant breach of international law." He reiterated his demand that Putin abandon his plan and withdraw his troops from Ukraine.

He praised the Kazakh government's extremely helpful support in preventing the evasion of sanctions and the active countermeasures they had put in place. Given the current developments, he said, both countries wanted more dialogue and more bilateral cooperation in foreign and security policy.