The Kazakh delegation held a series of business meetings in Japan

From April 14 to 18, the Kazakh delegation is holding a series of meetings in Tokyo as part of the first official visit of the Atameken National Chamber of Entrepreneurs and the Foreign Trade Chamber of Kazakhstan (MIC) to Japan. The purpose of the visit is to strengthen economic ties between the two countries and establish long-term business cooperation between small and medium-sized businesses in Japan and Kazakhstan.

The delegation was headed by Chairman of the Kazakh-Japanese Committee for Economic Cooperation, Head of the Secretariat of the Presidium of the National Chamber of Entrepreneurs of the Republic of Kazakhstan "Atameken" and Chairman of the Board of the Military-Industrial Complex Murat Karimsakov. The delegation also includes Chairman of the Audit Commission of the National Chamber of Entrepreneurs of the Republic of Kazakhstan Atameken and President of the JICA Alumni Association in Kazakhstan Nurlan Sarsenbai, official representative of the Military-Industrial Complex in Japan Leyla Sarsembayeva, as well as Japanese advisers to the Military-Industrial Complex Professor Tomikazu Inagaki, Professor Tetsui Tanaka and Akao Satoshi. The delegation was accompanied at all meetings by Anuarbek Karashev, Adviser to the Embassy of the Republic of Kazakhstan in Japan.

On the first day, the delegation visited the Embassy of the Republic of Kazakhstan in Japan, where a meeting was held with Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Kazakhstan to Japan Yerlan Baudarbek-Kozhatayev. The delegates congratulated him on his official assumption of office and discussed the current state and prospects for the development of business relations between Kazakhstan and Japan.

One of the key meetings in Tokyo was a business round table with the Japan-Kazakhstan Committee for Economic Cooperation, headed by Akira Terakawa, Director and Board Member of Marubeni Corporation. This meeting, organized by the ROTOBO Japanese Business Association, was attended by 24 representatives of iconic Japanese corporations such as Itochu, Sumitomo, Mitsui, Mitsubishi, Inpex, Sojitz, Toyota Tsusho, Nissin, Japan Tobacco, MUFG Bank. Reports were made by Yerlan Baudarbek-Kozhatayev, Akira Terakawa, Murat Karimsakov. In addition, Shigeru Saito, CEO of Inpex Corporation, Tsuyoshi Nishitani, Vice Chairman of the Japan-Kazakhstan Committee for Economic Cooperation and Adviser to Itochu Corporation, and Nurlan Sarsenbai, Chairman of the Audit Commission of the National Chamber of Entrepreneurs of the Republic of Kazakhstan Atameken, delivered a closing speech.

Next, a meeting was held with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), where existing projects and new tools for expanding further cooperation were discussed. During the negotiations, the parties discussed the current cooperation of JICA with the National Chamber of Entrepreneurs of the Republic of Kazakhstan "Atameken" - the implementation of the "One Village, one Product" project, as well as professional development programs aimed at stimulating entrepreneurial activity. The Japanese side familiarized the Kazakh side with new programs for the development of Japan's SMEs, and also invited the military-industrial complex to become a counterparty to find local (Kazakh) partners for Japanese small and medium-sized businesses.

The next visit was to the Japan Organization for the Development of Foreign Trade (JETRO) and the Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI). Due to the similarity of the tasks and fields of activity of the parties, the dialogue turned out to be meaningful, and mutual understanding was achieved from the very first minutes. Issues of expanding trade and economic cooperation and establishing direct contacts between entrepreneurs of the two countries were discussed.

"Kazakh-Japanese relations have a strategic character due to the efforts of the leadership of our countries at the governmental level. Today, we are witnessing active cooperation not only in traditional sectors of the economy, but also in such areas as the development of nuclear energy, which is becoming particularly relevant," Murat Karimsakov said. — The second important focus of our cooperation is the development of small and medium-sized businesses. Japan has accumulated tremendous experience in the field of SME support and financing, and we strive to adopt the best practices. We came to discuss this directly and establish contacts. We invite our Japanese colleagues to Kazakhstan so that they can get acquainted with our practice and discover new partnership opportunities."

Mr. Kuniya Asamoto, JETRO's Director of Global Strategy, expressed gratitude to the Kazakh delegation for the friendly visit, emphasizing the importance of mutual understanding between the parties and expressing readiness for further constructive cooperation. During the meeting, the Japanese side also noted that it had already visited Kazakhstan in 2017, and expressed gratitude for the invitation to visit the country again. Tetsuya Matsuoka, Deputy Director General of the Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry, added that such a visit would be an excellent opportunity to establish direct business contacts, explore Kazakhstan's investment potential and discuss prospects for joint projects in the fields of economics, technology and education.

Murat Karimsakov also stressed: "Japan is one of the ten largest foreign investors in Kazakhstan with a volume of $ 8 billion and an annual trade turnover of $ 2 billion. Over 60 well-known Japanese companies with a global brand operate in Kazakhstan. This is a convincing evidence of the trust and interest of Japanese business in Kazakhstan. We hope that our visit will give a new impetus to the development of business contacts and specific projects in the fields of industry, transport, sustainable energy and technology."

The program was followed by a study visit to the Organization for Support of SMEs in Japan and Regional Innovations (Organization for Small & Medium Enterprises and Regional Innovation, SME Support Japan). During the meeting, an understanding was reached of the upcoming common tasks in the field of SME support in Japan and Kazakhstan, and mutual agreement was expressed on the intention to establish business contacts between the Foreign Trade Chamber of Kazakhstan and SME Support Japan.  This meeting was a continuation of the dialogue that began in October 2024 in Astana, when Masaki Ishikawa, Special Representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan for Central Asian Affairs, visited Kazakhstan as part of an official visit. During negotiations with Ishikawa last year, the leadership of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan expressed interest in establishing cooperation with the above-mentioned Japanese organization, and authorized the Atameken NPP to conduct further negotiations on building direct contact. The meeting in Tokyo was the second step in establishing the aforementioned business relationship.

During the Military-Industrial Complex's official visit to Japan, meetings were also held with Japanese analytical structures. The first meeting was held with a Research Group on Kazakhstan Studies led by Professor Kei Karasawa, with the participation of former Japanese Ambassadors to Kazakhstan Toshio Tsunozaki (2003-2005), Ichiro Kawabata (2016-2019) and Tatsuhiko Kasai (2019-2021). The meeting was attended by representatives of Japan's academic elite in the field of studying Kazakhstan's relations with Japan. The next visit of the delegation was to the Institute of Central Asian and Caucasian Studies (CACRI), headed by Professor Tetsui Tanaka. The meeting was attended by representatives of the business community studying issues of Japan's interaction with Central Asia. At both meetings, the parties shared their experiences and agreed on mutual cooperation to provide relevant information on the development of business relations between the two countries.

At the end of the official visit, the delegation visited the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan (METI), where issues of strengthening bilateral economic and business cooperation between Kazakhstan and Japan, developing long-term bridges of interaction between small and medium-sized enterprises of our countries, as well as the overall investment situation were discussed.

On the last day of the visit, a friendly meeting was held with representatives of engineering companies that played an important role in the development of Kazakhstan's industrial infrastructure in the early 2000s. The Japanese side shared interesting historical facts about the thirty-year experience of Japan's cooperation with Kazakhstan.

The delegation of the National Chamber of Entrepreneurs of the Republic of Kazakhstan "Atameken" and the Military Industrial Complex would like to thank the Embassy of Japan in Kazakhstan, headed by Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Japan to the Republic of Kazakhstan Iijima Yasumasa, the Embassy of Kazakhstan in Japan, headed by Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Kazakhstan to Japan Yerlan Baudarbek-Kozhatayev, Adviser to the Embassy of the Republic of Kazakhstan in Japan Anuarbek Karashev, contact office JICA in the Republic of Kazakhstan is headed by Satoshi Tsuji, as well as Japanese advisers Professor Tetsui Tanaka, Professor Inagaki Tomikazu and Akao Satoshi.