ASTANA, Kazakhstan, October 25. Kazakhstan is interested in attracting funds from the European Investment Bank (EIB), said the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan Murat Nertleu during a meeting with EIB Vice-President Teresa Chervinskaya in Luxembourg, Trend reports.
In addition, the minister noted that his country is interested in opening an EIB office in Astana as soon as possible, which could significantly expand the Bank’s investment portfolio and presence in the region.
Nurtleu also called on the EIB to consider closer cooperation in the field of green finance and exchange of innovations with the Astana International Financial Center.
The parties agreed to create a special working group and develop a roadmap for detailed investment cooperation.
During the negotiations, the parties discussed a wide range of issues of mutual interest, in particular the possibility of implementing investment and technological projects in Kazakhstan.
The EIB is currently active in four Central Asian countries: Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and most recently Uzbekistan.
The loans provided by the EIB come from the lending window for Asia provided under the mandate from the Council and European Parliament for the period 2014-2020, out of which €182 million has been made available for use in Central Asia.
In addition, Central Asian countries are eligible under the Bank’s own risk Climate Action & Environment Facility (CAEF) for investment grade projects in renewable energy, energy efficiency, carbon capture, transportation or storage projects aiming specifically to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and projects contributing substantially to security of EU energy supply.
Since the first EIB loan signed and until the end-December 2018, the EIB has invested a total of 967 million euros in the region.