Kazakstan Seeks Investment from Arab States

The Kazak president’s visit to Egypt and Qatar last week probably had more to do with a new foreign-policy focus on investment than with a particular interest in the Middle East.



On March 10-14, President Nursultan Nazarbaev paid an official visit to Qatar and Egypt where he signed trade and economic agreements along with a memorandum of understanding with the Arab League. It was also announced that an Egyptian-Kazak business council will be created.



NBCentralAsia experts say that the most important objective of Nazarbaev’s trip was to attract Arab investment in sectors other than oil and gas.



“[This visit] is a further attempt to attract large-scale investment. Kazakstan is at a new stage in its investment potential and is focusing on developing other types of production, not just on oil extraction and refining,” said Erkin Tukumov, director-general of the Almaty-based Central Asian Fund for the Development of Democracy.



Tukumov said that the visit was confirmation of the foreign policy shift announced by foreign minister Marat Tajin, in which the emphasis will be on economic matters.



Rustem Lebekov, director of the Eurasian Centre for Political Studies, also believe Nazarbaev’s visit was aimed at promoting business, financial and economic ties, including investment.



But he does not believe the president’s trip marks a radical shift in foreign policy, or a major breakthrough in Kazakstan’s relations with Arab states.



(News Briefing Central Asia draws comment 0and analysis from a broad range of political observers across the region.)