The Press and Journal (Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire)
Kazakh ambassador jets into city ahead of Brexit
Country keen to ‘enhance’ relationships with ‘new energy’
The Kazakh 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 town house to meet 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”.
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 while there were once only 10 Kazakh students in Aberdeen the number is now 40 and he hopes the numbers will 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.”
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.”
“We know Aberdeen is developing very fast”