Kazakhstan's President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev recently made his inaugural state visit to Singapore, where he met with Singaporean President Tharman Shanmugaratnam. Their discussions centered on enhancing connectivity, accessing critical raw materials, and boosting economic cooperation. Currently, over 140 Singaporean companies and joint ventures operate in Kazakhstan. Singapore has invested more than $1.7 billion in the Kazakh economy, and bilateral trade is expected to surpass $2 billion.
Tokayev praised Singapore as a longstanding and dependable ally of Kazakhstan. During discussions with Singapore's Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, he expressed optimism that his visit would enhance bilateral ties. Highlighting the synergies between their economies, Wong noted that Singapore could serve as a conduit to deepen Kazakhstan's engagement with ASEAN nations. Conversely, Kazakhstan could facilitate Singapore's efforts to strengthen connections with Central Asian countries.
Regarding economic and investment cooperation, the parties reaffirmed their mutual commitment to expanding joint ventures in green energy, transport and logistics, digitalization, finance, agribusiness, connectivity, e-commerce, and mining and processing of critical minerals. President Tokayev and Prime Minister Wong welcomed the implementation of Alatau City (G4 City), a thousand-kilometer Special Economic Zone to be developed by Kazakhstan with support from Singaporean company Surbana Jurong in the region of Almaty.
Tokayev expressed appreciation to the Singaporean firm for crafting the extensive master plan for the project, emphasizing its role as a catalyst for enhancing the economies of Kazakhstan and Central Asia. Additionally, Tokayev and Wong lauded the collaboration between Singapore's PSA International and Kazakhstan's national railway company, Kazakhstan Temir Zholy (KTZ), which aims to unlock the full potential of the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route (TITR).
KTZ and PSA have inked a memorandum aimed at advancing Kazakhstan's transportation and transit capabilities. Additionally, they have reached an agreement to enhance the volume of cargo transit through Kazakhstan by leveraging their combined assets in China. KTZ manages railway terminals in China, including those in the dry port of Xi’an and the seaport of Lianyungang. On the other hand, PSA possesses marine terminals in six ports and railway terminals in 13 cities across China.
Speaking at the Kazakhstan-Singapore Business Forum later in the day, Tokayev emphasized the opportunities for collaboration between the two countries. “the shortest and most sustainable route from Central and East Asia to Europe”, TITR has the potential to radically enhance Eurasian cooperation.
The Kazakh president outlined promising areas of cooperation between the two countries and announced Kazakhstan’s readiness to supply critical raw materials and natural resources to Singapore, stating: “Considering that global demand for rare metals will quadruple by 2040, Kazakhstan, which has approximately 5,000 unexplored deposits, can become a reliable partner for the joint development of this potential. We have high hopes for long-term cooperation with the Indorama company, which is interested in exploring copper and phosphate deposits in Kazakhstan”.