Mr. Shakhrat Nuryshev, Counselor of Kazakhstan to China, was interviewed by China Talk at the China Internet Information Center (China.org.cn) on July 7.

Mr. Shakhrat Nuryshev, Counselor of Kazakhstan to China, during the interview

He said that in 2008, China and Kazakhstan have frequently cooperated in economic and trade issues. Mr. Nuryshev has introduced efforts to encourage ties in politics, education and culture. The bilateral trade volume was US$13.9 billion in 2007, and will probably rise to US$15 billion this year, which will be far ahead of the goal set by the two countries, which was US$10 billion by 2010. According to the trade statistics, the volume of trade for the first four months of this year is estimated to have reached US$4.4 billion, which is up by 33% compared to the same period last year.

Mr. Nuryshev said that Kazakhstan greatly values the daily trade and energy cooperation between the two nations. The oil pipeline linking China and Kazakhstan is under construction, which will fulfill the goal of bringing oil directly to China. China also plans on investing in other energy-related fields like natural gas plants and water power stations. The two countries will also be cooperating on non-energy fields in the future, like China's funding of building projects in Kazakhstan.

The Eurasia Land Bridge that will go through Kazakhstan is now under construction. It is one of the highway construction projects that will link Western Europe with West China. The use of this bridge will make it easier to transport goods from China to Europe and also easier for equipment that will be used for the China-Kazakhstan projects to be brought from Europe to China.

To further bind economic ties, Mr. Nuryshev said the two sides are constructing facilities for importing and exporting goods, such as the Horgas International Cooperation Border Trade Center and the Railway Port in Mount Ala. Investment between China and Kazakhstan is booming. Many Chinese companies are looking for opportunities to invest in projects in Kazakhstan, and entrepreneurs from Kazakhstan, with their abundant resources and funds, are also expected to take part in the development of China.

He said that the Embassy of Kazakhstan has contributed to the promotion of mutual investment between the two nations. During the visit of Kazakhstan's Premier to China, the China-Kazakhstan Economic and Trade Senior Forum was held with the assistance of the Kazakh embassy. State-owned enterprises and representatives from the small and medium-sized enterprises attended, seeking a chance to invest in projects in Kazakhstan.

The entrepreneurs showed a great interest in the development of trade relations between China and Kazakhstan, whose geographic proximity is advantageous. Also, the trade policy of Kazakhstan gives preference to those investing in the cooperative projects, Mr. Nuryshey said. These factors result in a solid foundation for the development of bilateral trade.

Mr. Nuryshev said the role that the Embassy of Kazakhstan is playing in China is to help interested parties get to know each other and to promote investment and develop trade between the two countries.

(China.org.cn by Hou Xiaoying July 11, 2008)