Kazakhstan government to monitor implementation of agreement with Stadler railway concernPresident of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev received Swiss Minister of Foreign Affairs Ignazio Cassis to discuss the investments of Swiss companies in the republic’s economy, the president’s press service said.Cassis is in Kazakhstan on an official visit, he attended the official opening of the Honorary Consulate of Switzerland in Almaty, according to a statement published on Wednesday."We welcome new Swiss companies that are ready to invest in promising areas of Kazakhstan’s economy. I think that the agreement signed between the government of Kazakhstan and the Stadler railway concern is very promising, so we will closely monitor the implementation of the deal. And this will add a very good impetus to our relations," the President of Kazakhstan said.Tokayev said that Switzerland is one of the key political, trade and economic partners of Kazakhstan in Europe. Currently, Switzerland is one of the top 20 trading partners and the top three largest investors in Kazakhstan with $32.5 billion total investment.In his turn, Cassis also positively assessed the current level of development of bilateral cooperation, expressing readiness to contribute to its strengthening."Bilateral trade and investment are important elements of our close ties. As you said, if Swiss private companies invest in your country, it will contribute to the success of your reforms and improve the investment environment," the minister said.The parties paid special attention to the implementation of joint projects in the areas of manufacturing, trade and logistics, machine building, agriculture, financial services, digitalization, and education.As previously reported, in December 2022, the Kazakh railway operator Kazakhstan Temir Zholy JSC (KTZ) and Stadler signed contracts for the production of passenger cars using Swiss technology on the basis of a railcar building plant in Kazakhstan. Stadler intends to modernize the production sites and equipment of the plant to organize the assembly of 537 passenger cars for NC KTZ JSC group from 2023 to 2030. The total cost of the project is 2.3 billion euros.This agreement was concluded as part of the implementation of the strategic cooperation agreement between KTZ and Stadler Rail AG, signed in November 2021. In April, KTZ reported that they expect to receive a loan from the republican budget in the amount of 162.6 billion tenge in the near future to purchase the new passenger cars assembled at the production site of Stadler Kazakhstan LLP in Astana.According to KTZ, in total, by 2030, more than 500 passenger cars of various modifications are expected to be produced at the enterprise, which will be used to organize socially significant transportation along key railway routes and replace the outdated fleet of Passenger Transportation JSC (a subsidiary of KTZ).Kazakhstan Temir Zholy (KTZ) is a transport, warehousing and distribution company, which is part of Kazakhstan’s National Wealth Fund Samruk-Kazyna. KTZ operates the country’s railways, the infrastructure of seaports and airports, transportation and warehousing facilities.Stadler, headquartered in Bussnang in eastern Switzerland, has been building trains for 80 years. The product range in the field of mainline railways and city transport includes high-speed trains, intercity trains, regional and suburban trains, metros, tramways and trams. Stadler also manufactures main-line locomotives, shunting locomotives and passenger carriages. (ICE ALMATY)

Fonte notizia: INTERFAX