OWAC took part in Business Mission Italy-Kazakhstan, which was organized by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation. This is another step in the internationalization path that OWAC has been starting for two years.
The mission focused on Smart Energies and Green Technologies sectors and it has been organized as part of the Italian National Day at Astana Expo 2017, which was held in the capital city from 10th June to 10th September. The Expo, for the first time in a Central Asian Country, had the main theme “Future Energy”, in terms of both responsible and efficient energy production, and environmental protection. So the Expo has meant as an instrument for Kazakhstan to promote a new energetic model for the facilitation in grid connection, the energetic safety and the usage of renewable sources to reduce climate changes and preserve the environment.
The Business Mission gave the possibility to investigate business opportunities for Italian companies in Kazakhstan, particularly in the following industrial sectors:
- Technologies for energy saving and efficiency
- Technologies for energy production, transport and distribution
- Photovoltaic plants
- Wind farms
- Biomass plants
- Hydro-power plants
- Smart Cities
In fact, despite the importance of oil&gas sector (which is the 30% of GDP, almost the 70% of export and 20% of public balance) and the huge amount of fossil resources available in the Country (which is stable in the first 15 Countries in the world for oil&gas extraction), the Kazakh Government started an ambitious plan for economic development, diversifying the national industrial asset reducing its dependence on hydrocarbons. Therefore, the government established the target to reach at least 3% of energetic national demand from renewable sources before 2020, 10% before 2030 and 50% before 2050. Consequently, the Ministry of Energy planned to build 106 new green energy power plants in the next three years throughout the Country; in details, projects regard 34 new wind farms, 41 mini hydro-power plants, 28 solar factories and three biogas plants, obtaining over 3.000 MW of new installed power. Kazakhstan is also the unique Asian country which issued specific regulations in this sector, supporting favorable prices and subsidies using green energies.
During the two Business-to-Business sessions in Astana and Almaty, which are the principal cities in Kazakhstan, more than twenty local companies have chosen OWAC to start a dialogue about any possible common business development; OWAC explained its activities, promoting the international cooperation for projects on environmental protection and renewable usage, rather than the traditional ones. Together with the local companies and entrepreneurs that OWAC met, follow-up activities mainly regard the research of projects in common, consultancy services in renewable and environmental protection sectors, as well as the search of investments to cooperate in the development of industrial plants in Kazakhstan (including the promotion of efficient and integrated system for waste management and treatment).