ALMATY – Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov met with a delegation from the Japan Business Federation Keidanren led by Takeshi Hashimoto, chairman of Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, on July 9 to discuss expanding trade, investment and technological cooperation between Kazakhstan and Japan.
From L to R: Takeshi Hashimoto, chairman of Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, and Kazakh Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov. Photo credit: PM’s press service. The talks focused on implementing agreements reached during President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev’s official visit to Japan in December 2025, when the two countries signed 47 commercial agreements worth more than $3.7 billion, reported the Prime Minister’s press service.
Bektenov described Japan as one of Kazakhstan’s key economic partners in East Asia. According to him, bilateral trade exceeded $1.7 billion last year, while 68 companies with Japanese capital operate in Kazakhstan, including INPEX, Marubeni, Sumitomo and Mitsui.
The prime minister said Kazakhstan is committed to expanding cooperation with Japan as one of the world’s leading technology-driven economies and reaffirmed the government’s readiness to support new joint investment projects, technology transfer and production localization.
“We are interested not only in expanding trade and investment but also in launching joint projects that will bring advanced technologies, modern industries and long-term expertise to our economy,” he said. Hashimoto said Japan sees significant opportunities to deepen cooperation with Kazakhstan, particularly in digital transformation and human capital development.
“The pace of Kazakhstan’s digital transformation is impressive. Kazakhstan is a young country that is making remarkable progress in this area, with many young people driving digital innovation. We are interested in continuing cooperation in human capital development, including training highly qualified IT and digital transformation specialists,” he said.
He added that Japanese companies have extensive experience implementing long-term infrastructure projects and are interested in cooperating on the development of digital and logistics infrastructure, as well as green technologies. Japan is also prepared to offer environmentally friendly solutions for Kazakhstan’s mining sector to support sustainable economic development.
The two sides identified transport and logistics, including the development of the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route and Caspian port infrastructure, along with energy, digitalization, artificial intelligence and industrial cooperation as priority areas for future collaboration.
Kazakhstan also expressed interest in launching joint projects with Japanese businesses focused on technology transfer, production localization and creating new drivers of economic growth.