Kazakh-German cooperation in science and innovations discussed at Berlin Eurasian Club meeting

Today, the 39th meeting of the Berlin Eurasian Club (BEC) with the agenda of “From higher education and research to a business model: Kazakh-German cooperation in applied science” was held in the German capital, El.kz cites MFA.

Deputy Foreign Minister of Kazakhstan Roman Vasilenko noted the major achievements of cooperation between Kazakhstan and Germany in 2023 and outlined the main areas of Kazakhstan’s policy in innovative development of economy and commercialization of scientific work in his welcoming speech to the BEC participants.

“The positive dynamics of trade turnover clearly shows the mutual attraction of our economies. Kazakhstan has three factors of attraction: diversified energy sources, significant natural resources, transit and transportation potential, not to mention many other advantages. We have good opportunities to increase the supply of traditional energy resources to Germany, production and subsequent export of "green" energy and "green" steel,” he stated.

Expressing interest in researching approaches to support, technology transfer and commercialization of innovations in Germany, RomanVasilenko called for the establishment of mutually beneficial cooperation in this area and improving the efficiency of relevant institutions and mechanisms between Kazakhstan and Germany.

Anke Reiffenstuel, Director for Academic Relations, Education and Research Policy of the Federal Foreign Office of the Federal Republic of Germany, emphasized the importance of Kazakhstan and the region as a whole, noting the Germany-Central Asia summit held in September this year. “Central Asia was the first region in the world with which Germany concluded a strategic regional partnership. We believe that it will further deepen the relations between our two countries.”

The representative of the German Foreign Ministry informed the participants about the current state of bilateral cooperation in the field of education and as a successful example noted the role of the Kazakh-German University, labeling it a “flagship project.” At the end of the speech expressed her willingness to take an active part in the BEC meetings in the future.

President of Kazakhstan-German University (DKU) Professor Wolrad Rommel in his speech informed about the course of reorganization of Kazakhstan-German University activity, emphasizing the necessity and “aspiration of DKU to the integration into educational system of Kazakhstan”. Rommel pointed out the great potential of the youth of our country, striving for education. According to him, “the economy of the country functions well when it effectively interacts with science”.

Jens Neugebauer, Head of the group of international representative offices and leading advisors of Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, the largest society of applied science with a turnover of 3 billion euros, spoke about the activities of the entity, emphasizing the purpose of the organization, which is to “fill the gap between industry and science”. At the end of his speech, he emphasized that this goal is also highly relevant in today's reality.

Vice-Minister for Science and Higher Education of Republic of Kazakhstan Darkhan Ahmed-Zaki, President of Anhalt University, member of the founding committee of the German Agency for Transfer and Innovation Jörg Bagdan, Chairman of the Board-Director of IJSC “East Kazakhstan Technical University named after Daulet Serikbayev” Saule Rakhmetullina, First Deputy Chairman of the Board of JSC "Science Fund" Aliya Sembayeva, Deputy Chairman of the Board of JSC "National Agency for Development of Innovations “QazInnovations” Madiyar Abilov – all took part in the podium discussion.

In the course of the dialogue, there was a thorough exchange of views on the prospects of scientific and innovative cooperation between Kazakhstan and Germany in the context of the implementation of modern business models.

At the end of the discussion, Nurlan Onzhanov, Ambassador of Kazakhstan to Germany, drew attention to the need for support and further development of German language teaching in Kazakhstan.

About 100 representatives of the scientific community, political and business circles, and the expert community attended the meeting.

For reference: The Berlin Eurasian Club is a unique dialogue platform. BEC meetings held annually in Astana, Brussels and Berlin. Over the 10 years of its existence, the Club has become an effective mechanism for direct interaction between representatives of business circles interested in mutually beneficial business with officials and expert community of the two countries.

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