THE MINING AND METALLURGICAL COMPLEX EMPLOYS MORE THAN 166,000 PEOPLE IN KAZAKHSTAN

MINISTER OF INDUSTRY AND INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF KAZAKHSTAN MARAT KARABAYEV AND VICE-PRESIDENT OF THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION MAROŠ ŠVEČOVIČ TOOK PART IN THE OPENING CEREMONY OF THE XIII INTERNATIONAL MINING & METALLURGY CONGRESS ASTANA MINING & METALLURGY - AMM 2023.

The head of MIIR of the Republic of Kazakhstan noted that the industry currently accounts for 8.7% of the country's GDP.

"The Mining and Metallurgical Congress has rightfully become the main industry platform for interaction of the state, business and science in the development of the mining and metallurgical sector - the economic driver of our country's development. The head of state instructed to process all raw materials produced by Kazakhstan's enterprises in the country. As part of the execution of this order MIIR of the Republic of Kazakhstan developed and adopted a law "On industrial policy," which includes the competence of our agency to develop and approve the rules of provision of domestic raw materials to manufacturing industries on a voluntary basis," Marat Karabayev.

Today, MMC companies provide jobs for more than 166,000 people, almost a third of the industry's workforce.

However, global climate trends continue to emerge in external markets, intensifying demands to reduce the carbon footprint. Most of the world's mining and metallurgical companies intend to reduce their emissions by a third by 2030. Thus, in December 2020, at the Summit of Climate Ambitions, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev announced Kazakhstan's intention to achieve carbon neutrality by 2060, reaffirming Kazakhstan's commitments under the Paris Agreement.

"In this regard, in February of this year the Strategy of achieving carbon neutrality of the Republic of Kazakhstan until 2060 was approved," said the head of the department.

Marat Karimzhanovich also noted that one of the significant directions on the way to carbon neutrality is the production of "green" energy. As you know, almost 70% of electricity in Kazakhstan is generated by coal-fired power plants.

To achieve the goal of clean energy generation, last year Kazakhstan and the European Union signed a Strategic Partnership Memorandum on sustainable raw materials, batteries and green hydrogen value chains.

 

"I believe that decarbonization needs to be integrated into the overall strategy of companies, rather than considering it as a separate path, delegated to a separate team or enterprise. We believe that companies that share their decarbonization plans and achievements will be able to correctly plan a long-term investment portfolio and gain investor confidence and competitive advantage. I am sure that this forum will contribute to this important cause," summarized the minister.

In his speech, European Commission Vice-President Maroš Šefčovič pointed out that Kazakhstan is not only the EU's largest trading partner, accounting for over 30 percent of total trade in 2022, but also the biggest foreign investor in the country, with a total net foreign direct investment of over $78 billion, accounting for 51 percent of the total.

"It is important for us to improve our relations with Kazakhstan by launching the implementation of the EU-Kazakhstan Memorandum of Understanding on strategic partnership in the fields of raw materials, batteries and renewable hydrogen," Maroš Šefčovič.

The event also includes a bilateral meeting with European Commission Vice President Maroš Šefčovič and a meeting with a delegation from Canada. In general, the schedule of the Congress in 2023, organized 20 specialized sessions, which will be attended by over 1200 delegates from 23 countries - Azerbaijan, Belgium, Brazil, Great Britain, Germany, the Netherlands, Georgia, Denmark, India, Kazakhstan, Canada, China, Luxembourg, UAE, Russia, Slovakia, USA, Turkey, Ukraine, Finland, France, Switzerland and Japan.

It should be noted that the plenary session was also attended by CRISCO President Edson Ribeira, Vice President of Zijing Mining Cue Chaoyang, the head of BBC World News in Eurasia Sergey Stanovkin, heads of industry ministries and representatives of major metallurgical companies.

For over 10 years, the Astana Mining & Metallurgy Congress has been the main negotiation platform between the business community and the government, as well as the main venue for determining current issues that affect the development of the mining and metallurgical industry.