Kazakh President Nazarbayev Succeeds in Getting U.S. Investment into the Silk Road

FROM EIR DAILY ALERT

Kazakh President Nazarbayev Succeeds in Getting U.S. Investment into the Silk Road

Feb. 1, 2018 (EIRNS)—During his Jan. 16 visit to Washington, Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev succeeded in signing 20 commercial contracts worth $7.5 billion, at a business roundtable with U.S. companies. Agriculture, where Kazakhstan’s trade with China is growing, is one of three areas of Kazakh-U.S. collaboration named in a joint press statement. Kazakh produce travels into China through railroads and inland “ports,” built as part of the massive regional development program Beijing launched five years ago, CNBC reported.

Now that China has built a railroad linking China’s east coast to Kazakhstan, China is looking at Kazakhstan more favorably for investment. Overall, Kazakhstan exported 150,300 metric tons of oilseeds to China in the marketing year ended July 2017, according to a report by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agricultural Service, citing industry sources.

In addition, Silk Road development has increased Kazakhstan’s railroad-related equipment requirement. General Electric subsidiary GE Transportation has worked in the country since the 1990s, and announced on Jan. 17 that it had signed two contracts with Kazakhstan’s state-run railroad Kazakhstan Temir Zholy, or KTZ.

“The deals are worth more than $900 million, according to a release, and include the delivery of 300 ‘shunter’ locomotives and an 18-year service agreement for 175 passenger Evolution Series locomotives,”

CNBC reported.

“Our new agreements with KTZ reflect our ongoing commitment to partner with Kazakhstan to build a world-class rail industry that serves the region and beyond,”

said Rafael Santana, CEO of GE Transportation.