ASTANA (KAZAKISTAN) (ITALPRESS) – Kazakhstan is a long-term partner for the European Union, and now it is necessary to “remove the bottlenecks that still exist” in the development of the Middle Corridor, the strategic logistics route connecting China to Europe through Central Asia, the Caspian Sea, the Caucasus and Turkey. It is the opinion of Alberto Jouwert Turkstra, director of the projects of the Belgian Institute Diplomatic World.
Turkstra was called to Astana as an international observer on the occasion of the referendum held on Kazakhstan in 15 March, where citizens were called to express themselves on the new draft Constitution. “This constitutional referendum is the culmination of a long process of political, social and economic reforms already begun in 2019. Each year new elements were introduced in the legislation, so this is of course the highest point of such a long process,” noted Turkstra interviewed in Astana by the Italpress agency.
“Now Kazakhstan is entering an unexplored territory because no country in the region has come so far in the modernization of its fundamental legislation,” he continued. “With regard to the European Union, perhaps it is not the most visible actor, but there is. We have cooperation in a wide range of sectors, first of all in critical raw materials. Kazakhstan has almost all the critical raw materials that Europe needs for its green and digital transition, and is a stable and relatively close partner than Africa, Australia or others,” said Turkstra recalling that cooperation with Kazakhstan is deep and long-standing.
“Last year we celebrated the tenth anniversary of the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement strengthened between Kazakhstan and the European Union, and Kazakhstan was the first country in the region to have such a new generation agreement with the EU,” said the expert.
“Finally, we are starting the agreement between Kazakhstan and EU on visa liberalization, which will make it much easier for researchers, students, tourists and Kazakhstani entrepreneurs to travel to the European Union. Of course, a solid component of exchanges between people is essential for a strong and robust strategic partnership. We also have, of course, the Middle Corridor that we talk about. Kazakhstan offers the shortest and cheapest route between the European Union and the growing markets of East Asia, such as China and others. Now we must attract the interest of private investors and our companies to work on increasing the capacity of the Middle Corridor, to remove the bottlenecks that still exist. This is, of course, a job for us in the EU,” Turkstra concluded.
-Photo lcr/Italpress-
(ITALPRESS).
