OREANDA-NEWS. October 12, 2009. Since the last meeting of Presidents of Kazakhstan and France in June 2008 the number of JVs with French capital in Kazakhstan has grown from 71 to 103, announced Kazakhstan’s Minister of Industry and Trade Aset Issekeshev at the Kazakh-French business forum in Astana, reported the Official website government.kz.

“This year direct foreign investments from France into the Kazakh economy have made up USD 1 billion. Most of the projects agreed upon in the course of President Nazarbayev’s visit to France last year have entered their active stages”, he said.

Works are under way to construct two plants – a USD 75 million plant producing titanium billets and a USD 230 million cement making plant. The two plants are to be commissioned next year.
“Today we have signed memoranda with Eurocopter/EADS and Alstom and outlined further steps”, the Minister said.

Altogether, 10 agreements and memoranda totally worth USD 3 billion were signed at the forum, the Minister closed.