On 23-24 May 2024, President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev paid his first state visit to Singapore, a country that is a strategic partner of Kazakhstan in Southeast Asia. This was the first visit in more than 20 years, but not the first visit for Tokayev personally. He previously served as a young diplomat in Singapore during the 1970s.
President Tokayev’s visit included a series of high-level meetings with Singapore’s Prime Minister, President, and government officials. He also addressed business leaders at a joint forum and participated in a bilateral discussion focused on scientific and educational collaboration.
The prospects for investment and economic cooperation took center stage on the agenda of the talks.
Currently, over 140 Singaporean companies and joint ventures operate in Kazakhstan, with total Singaporean investments exceeding $1.7 billion. Despite recent economic challenges, bilateral trade is on track to surpass $2 billion.
At a meeting with Tokayev, Singapore’s Prime Minister Lawrence Wong noted the huge potential for strengthening mutually beneficial cooperation.
Wong highlighted the complementary nature of both economies, suggesting Singapore could serve as a gateway for Kazakhstan’s expansion into ASEAN markets, while Kazakhstan could facilitate Singapore’s engagement with Central Asian nations.
Green energy, transportation and logistics, digitalization, finance, agriculture, communications, critical raw materials extraction and processing, and e-commerce were all identified as promising avenues for further cooperation.
President Tokayev and Prime Minister Wong welcomed ongoing flagship projects, including the development of Alatau City (G4 City) – a smart city project in the Almaty region – with Singapore’s Surbana Jurong company. Additionally, the partnership between PSA International and KTZ JSC to develop the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route was commended.
Kazakh-Singapore Business Forum – Tokayev’s Key statements
On 23 May, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev took part in the closing ceremony of the Kazakh-Singapore Business Forum.
In his speech, the head of state noted that Kazakhstan is a country with Singapore-style economic reforms, with huge untapped opportunities and a dynamically developing economy.
Tokayev outlined a number of promising areas of cooperation.
Integrated megalopolis: President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has expressed a vision for a completely new integrated megalopolis in Kazakhstan. This ambitious project, dubbed the “Singapore of Central Asia,” aims to establish Kazakhstan as a premier international business hub. The massive development, encompassing a thousand square kilometers, will be built within a Special Economic Zone, offering unique economic advantages. Singapore’s Surbana Jurong, a renowned urban development company, has been entrusted with developing the master plan for this groundbreaking project.
Critical raw materials: The President announced Kazakhstan’s readiness to ensure the supply of critical raw materials and natural resources to Singapore. “Kazakhstan, which has about 5,000 undiscovered deposits, can become a reliable partner for the joint development of this potential. We have high hopes for long-term cooperation with Indorama, which is interested in exploring copper and phosphate deposits in Kazakhstan,” Kassym-Jomart Tokayev stressed.
Renewable energy: The President of Kazakhstan called on Singaporean companies to expand partnerships in the production of clean energy, technology transfer and expertise.
Trans-Caspian Transport Route: Kazakhstan Railways KTZ and Singapore-based PSA International are cooperating to expand the potential of the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route. “This is the shortest and most sustainable route from Central and East Asia to Europe. We believe that Singaporean companies and financial institutions can benefit significantly by exploring business and investment opportunities in this area,” Tokayev said.
Agriculture: Tokayev suggested that Singapore businesses create joint agro-innovation centers, as well as cooperate in the areas of development of precision agriculture and more efficient use of water resources.
Biotechnologies and medicine: The President welcomed the plans of the national holding Baiterek and Forebright to create an investment fund to finance joint research, as well as the production of medicines and biologics.
Digitalization: According to Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Kazakhstan, following the example of Singapore, is striving to become a leading technology and IT hub on the Eurasian continent. In particular, the country aims at large-scale cooperation in such areas as R&D projects, startups, and education to create new complex IT projects, especially in the field of artificial intelligence.
Astana International Financial Center: In conclusion, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev drew attention to the competitive advantages of the Astana International Financial Center in attracting investments. “More than 30 Singaporean companies are residents of the AIFC. I hope their number will grow in the future. The Financial Center actively cooperates with the Monetary Authority of Singapore to develop mutually beneficial partnerships in the fields of fintech, green finance and Islamic banking. The creation of the Kazakh-Singapore Direct Investment Fund under the AIFC can serve as a platform for financing joint ventures in both countries,” Tokayev said.
At the end of the forum, a signing ceremony of commercial documents took place. The following documents were signed:
- Agreement on strategic cooperation between Kazpost JSC and SingPost;
- Declaration on the launch of the digital corridor between KTZ Express JSC and Global DTC;
- Memorandum of further cooperation between JSC NC Kazakhstan Temir Zholy (Railways), PSA KZ Pte Ltd, KPMC Ltd and G-trans Service.
In addition, the following documents were signed on the sidelines of the business forum:
- Investment Agreement on the Forebright Life Science Technology Fund between Forebright Capital Asia Private Limited, JSC Qazaqstan Investment Corporation and BGI Hong Kong Tech Co., Limited;
- Agreement between Biryuk Altyn LLP and AlDigi Holdings Pte. Ltd.;
- Memorandum of Understanding between the Foreign Trade Chamber of Kazakhstan LLP and the Singapore Manufacturing Federation;
- Memorandum of Understanding and Cooperation between Caspian Group JSC and China Regional Development and Planning Institute Co., Limited;
- Memorandum of Understanding between Caspian Group JSC and KPMG Samjong Accounting Corp.;
- Cooperation agreement between Mandarin building LLP, Singapore International School Kazakhstan LLP and Kinder World International Group;
- Memorandum of Understanding between the Ministry of Digital Development, Innovation and Aerospace Industry of the Republic of Kazakhstan and Nomadic Innovation Hub;
- Investment agreement between Nomadic Innovation Hub and Clockster;
- Investment agreement between Nomadic Innovation Hub and the Snap Hunt recruitment platform.
Signed documents
Within the framework of the state visit of President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev to Singapore, the following interstate and interdepartmental documents were signed:
- Memorandum of Understanding between the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Government of the Republic of Singapore on economic cooperation.
- Memorandum of Understanding between the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Singapore.
- Memorandum of Understanding between the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Singapore on cooperation in the field of intellectual property rights protection.
- Memorandum of Understanding between the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Singapore on legal cooperation.
- Memorandum of Cooperation in the field of higher education between the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Singapore.
- Agreement between the Kazakhstan Institute of Standardization and Metrology and Enterprise Singapore on cooperation in the dissemination and translation of Singapore standards. ///nCa, 25 May 2024 (based on Akorda materials)