Toespraak bij het network event in Kazachstan

Toespraak | 25-11-2014

Good evening your excellency Akim of Atyrau,

Ambassador, Distinguished guests, Ladies and gentlemen,

On October 4th, 1957, the world’s first man-made satellite was launched from Cosmodrone Bajkonoer. In the decades that followed, the site would send the first person, the first woman and the first space station into an orbit around our planet. Today, the International Space Station is serviced from this Kazakh site.

Space flight has always been about discovery, about dreams, about pushing boundaries. As such, Bajkonoer symbolizes Kazakhstan’s desire to grow. And it has. Since independence in 1991, the country has transformed into a modern state with a relatively high standard of living.

Today, Kazakhstan is a key player in the world’s energy industry and a valued partner of the Netherlands. In fact, we are one of the biggest foreign investors in Kazakhstan and exports are €440 million and growing. Currently, some 60 Dutch companies – SMEs and multinationals – are doing business here.

I am happy to say that the Netherlands enjoys close relations with Kazakhstan. I had the personal pleasure of meeting President Nazarbayev during the Nuclear Security Summit earlier this year. Now, I have returned for high-level political talks, bringing with me a delegation of Dutch businesses.

One of my goals is to strengthen bilateral trade. That is why this week I will visit Atyrau, Astana and Almaty. I will also speak with the Prime Minister, the Ministers of Energy and of Investments and Development, and delegates from the Samruk-Kazyna national welfare fund and two well-known universities. I will also explore opportunities for cooperation in the field of innovation.

The Netherlands, for example has an innovative space industry. We are great at building space instruments and we are home to the European Space Agency’s research and technology centre.

Our two countries can co-operate on geographical information systems and remote sensing, with applications in water management, energy and agriculture. Next year, a trade mission focused on the space industry will visit Kazakhstan.

Oil is another key area, as Kazakhstan exports oil to and via the Netherlands. Today I had the pleasure of visiting the Bolashak plant in Atyrau and tomorrow part of the trade delegation will visit the port of Aktau. Kazakhstan exports oil and gas to the EU in part via the Port of Rotterdam, which is a major maritime hub. Maritime experts are part of our delegation, and they are here to share their expertise with Kazak partners.

The Netherlands and Kazakhstan are also joined in their quest for a new energy system for the future. Especially now that the energy market is globalized and the rising energy demand necessitates major investments, which in turn require solid environmental and legal agreements.

That is why I am taking part in the Energy Charter Conference in Astana and why in the spring of 2015 I will host a Ministerial Conference in The Hague. By then, we will sign an updated Energy Charter, which will be called the International Energy Charter. This will give new impetus to international energy cooperation, investments in energy and multilateral trade in energy products.

Kazakhstan, for its part, has its own ambitions in the area of sustainable energy and is hosting the Expo 2017, which has the fitting theme of Future Energy. My hope is that the Netherlands will be able to support Kazakhstan’s ambitions through investments, partnerships and the exchange of knowledge.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Like the astronauts that left for space from Bajkonoer, Kazakhstan is heading for a bright future. I am proud that the Dutch compatriots living and working here are contributing to that. I hope that through continued investments and co-operation, the friendship between our two nations will continue to flourish.

Thank you.