OREANDA-NEWS. February 12, 2007. Kazakhstan and France plan to expand energy cooperation, said Prime Minister Francois Fillon of France at a press briefing following his meeting with Kazakhstan’s President Nursultan Nazarbayev, reported the Official website http://en.government.kz.

“Our cooperation with Kazakhstan is important, and we are ready to further strengthen the positive dialogue”, Mr. Fillon said.

“We discussed a number of issues related to energy security and agreed to extend the dialogue”, the French Prime Minister added. Besides, according to him, in the course of the meeting they dwelt on international issues, notably on “our relations with China, Iran and Russia”.

France ranks 5th largest trade partners of Kazakhstan following Russia, Italy, Switzerland and China. According to the Kazakhstan’s Agency for Statistics, in 2007 bilateral trade turnover between the two nations stood at USD 4,68 billion (with exports of USD 3,98 billion and imports of USD 705,1 million), while the 2006 figure stood at USD 3,8 billion.

Major Kazakh exports are oil, metals, chemicals, agriculture products. Kazakh imports from France include electric and mechanical equipment, consumer goods, medical supplies, cosmetics, cars, foodstuffs, and construction materials.

In terms of investments, France ranks 4th after Netherlands, USA and Great Britain. As of Oct. 1, 2007, overall French investments into the Kazakh economy stood at USD 3,76 billion (with direct investments of USD 2,82 billion). Kazakhstan’s investments into the French economy made up USD 262,2 million.