BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 10. The collaboration between the UK and Kazakhstan in boosting cleaner renewable energy capacity is gaining pace, Kenan Poleo, His Majesty’s Trade Commissioner for Eastern Europe and Central Asia Region and British Consul General, Istanbul, told Trend in an exclusive interview.
Trade between the UK and Kazakhstan
Our (the UK and Kazakhstan) bilateral trading relationship is going from strength to strength and has huge potential for businesses in both our countries.
Total trade in goods and services between our countries was 2.1 billion British pounds in the four quarters to the end of the first quarter of 2023 (from the second quarter of 2022 through the first quarter of 2023), an increase of 5.8 percent on the year before (from the second quarter of 2021 through the first quarter of 2022). However, the important thing for me is not the current trade volume but the direction.
Both Kazakhstan and the UK have committed to boosting collaboration and improving economic links. I am confident that we will see more and more businesses signing deals and working together over the coming years for the benefit of both our countries.
Prospects for UK-Azerbaijan-Kazakhstan energy cooperation
As His Majesty’s Trade Commissioner for the region, I cover both Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan, and I am always pleased to see countries across the region collaborating on new projects.
The UK has been the largest investor in Azerbaijan for a number of years, largely driven by the presence of BP in the energy sector. Recently, the UK government signed a MoU on Energy Transition Cooperation with Azerbaijan to share best practices on clean energy, energy efficiency, low-carbon technologies, and energy market transition.
The UK has world-leading expertise in clean energy and is always open to cooperating on the utilization of new, innovative, and green technologies in the energy sector.
As just one recent example of this, a UK consultancy firm, BVG Associates, recently developed an offshore wind roadmap for Azerbaijan via a study by the World Bank, which has estimated the country’s offshore wind potential at 157 GW.
The collaboration between the UK and Kazakhstan to boost cleaner renewable energy capacity is gaining pace and showing great potential.
Kazakhstan has committed to reaching net zero by 2060 in its carbon neutrality strategy, which will involve ambitious work across a variety of sectors.
The UK government has signed a MoU on a Strategic Partnership on Low Carbon Hydrogen with Kazakhstan, which will help share best practices on low carbon hydrogen technologies as well as energy market transition. Additionally, we are also taking clear and practical steps to help boost business connections in green energy. This was demonstrated recently, when my team in Kazakhstan led a senior delegation of Kazakh businesses to Aberdeen, one of the most impressive clean energy hubs in the UK.
The delegation met their counterparts in the UK, exchanged knowledge and best practice tips, and he looks forward to further fruitful bilateral discussions ahead.
UK's benefit from the Middle Corridor
The UK is committed to increasing trade and energy cooperation with Central Asian countries, including sustainable transport links. The ‘Middle Corridor’ project can assist in boosting trade sustainability by improving connectivity from the Kazakh/Chinese border to the entire region via Türkiye and beyond.
We see this as a brilliant opportunity for HMG and other partners to both facilitate investment in infrastructure and support political agreements to create a predictable economic logistics pathway for Central Asia.
Potentially new prospects of cooperation between the UK and Kazakhstan
I had the privilege to travel to Kazakhstan on my first official visit in May. It was brilliant to see and experience firsthand just how many exciting opportunities there are for innovative British businesses.
Our countries enjoy a growing partnership, and we are committed to expanding cooperation across a range of priority sectors, including technology.
OneWeb is a brilliant example of what can be accomplished when two countries work together. We expect construction of the UK’s OneWeb ground station (a station for transmitting and receiving signals from a low-orbit satellite constellation) in the Almaty region to be fully commissioned by the end of this year, providing satellite connectivity to countries across Eurasia.
During my visit to Kazakhstan, I had the chance to explore one of the most exciting areas of cooperation: mining. It was great to explore how the UK’s expertise in the full mining lifecycle, including low-carbon solutions, can support the transition to a cleaner, greener future for Kazakh businesses.
Education is another key sector of cooperation. 2024 will mark the 30th anniversary of the 1994 Intergovernmental Agreement on Cooperation in the Fields of Education, Science, and Culture between the UK and Kazakhstan.
Education is a great sector, which demonstrates what can be accomplished when we work together. When De Montfort University opened in Almaty in 2021, it was the first international university to open a campus in Kazakhstan, and just last month, Heriot-Watt launched three dual degree programs in partnership with Zhubanov University in Aktobe. This is great news for the UK and Kazakhstan, and I want to see more success stories like these.