Kazakhstan’s ambassador to the UK arrived in Aberdeen yesterday – and pledged to “enhance” relationships ahead of Brexit.
Erlan Idrissov left the London embassy for a visit to the townhouse to meet with the Lord Provost and then on to meetings with local business leaders.
He said that while the relationship between Aberdeen and Kazakhstan was previously based on their reputation as oil and gas capitals, now the country was looking to branch out into “new energy”.
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Aberdeen has a large offshore windfarm and the council has been prioritising the development of hydrogen technology, while also boasting world-class universities with reputable engineering degrees.
Mr Idrissov said that while there were once only 10 Kazakh students in Aberdeen the number is now 40 and he hopes the numbers will continue to grow.
He said: “I have worked to build the relationship between Aberdeen and Western Kazakhstan.
“These are the areas of oil and gas production so it was quite logical to build that.
“Times have changed and the UK is in the context of Brexit and searching for new opportunities, so we thought it was time to find ways of enhancing that partnership between us.
“Brexit is an additional opportunity, but even before the referendum Kazakhstan was identified as one of the most attractive partners for the UK.
“Now in that context I think there are many new opportunities. We enjoy excellent relations with Europe but I think as a destination Kazakhstan will continue to be very attractive to Britain.”
Mr Idrissov added: “Aberdeen is considered the oil capital and has long experience in the North Sea and we wanted to tap into that.
“I think today’s context is more diverse and larger because we are talking about new energy.
“We know Aberdeen is developing very fast in terms of new energy and that is a very interesting topic for us because we are committing ourselves to becoming a new energy economy.
“This is not just lip service, this is something we want to practically achieve.”
In recent months the townhouse has hosted delegations from across the globe, including US ambassador Woody Johnson.
Lord Provost Barney Crockett said: “I think the key after Brexit will be boosting links to the wider world and Kazakhstan is an example of the sort of markets we are looking at.”
Growing closer to Kazakhstan
On the surface you may not expect a wind-battered corner of north-western Europe and a former Soviet Central Asian republic 4,000 miles apart to have much in common.
But a relationship between the north-east of Scotland and Kazakhstan has grown in recent years boosted by their shared interest in energy.
And it is not just the black gold of oil that is the sole interest anymore.
Both now have emerging industries in “new energy” like windfarms and in Aberdeen’s case hydrogen.
The Asian country has long been targeted by city council chiefs as a potential expanding market with Bridge of Don independent councillor John Reynolds leading on the relationship building aspect.
Mr Reynolds has visited the country.
The local authority generally is seeking to gain ever more levers of control over the city and its finances as they attempt to find new revenue streams away from decreasing government grants.
In April, the council approved new economic plans with markets in Canada, China, Colombia, Mexico, Japan, Kazakhstan, Qatar and others identified as “international trade priorities”.
However there has been criticism of the human rights records of some of the countries.