At the concluding session of the two-day 10th meeting of the India-Kazakhstan Inter-Governmental Commission (IGC) on Trade, Economic, Scientific, Technological, Industrial and Cultural Cooperation, here on Wednesday, the Indian Minister of Petroleum & Natural Gas Dr M Verrappa Moily said :“due to high transportation costs, it is not economical to import raw materials and unprocessed products from Kazakhstan. Hence, efforts should be made to set up joint ventures in Kazakhstan based on these raw materials to manufacture value-added goods which could be exported to India - particularly items like copper, titanium, magnesium, phosphates, potash, molybdenum, tantalum and other rare earths.”

Dr Moily led the delegation from Indian side while the Kazakh Vice Minister of Oil and Gas Bulat Akchulakov led the Kazakhstan delegation.

Dr Moily also expressed hope that OVL’s proposal to buy ConocoPhillips stake of 8.4% in the Kashagan oil field would be favourably considered by consortium partners and the Government of Kazakhstan.

Recently, OVL and ConocoPhilipshave signed an agreement for purchase of the share of ConocoPhillips in Kashagan oil field.

Dr. Moily further said “Indian Oil & Gas companies have started exploring the possibilities of establishing direct transportation of hydrocarbons from Kazakhstan to India, which, if implemented would be considered a turning point in the region. Incidentally all the countries involved in this venture Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India are members of CICA, an idea conceived by the great leader of Kazakhstan President Nazarbayev, who through his tireless efforts gave birth to this organization in the very early days after independence.”

The two sides reviewed progress with regard to various decisions taken at the 9th Inter-Governmental Commission meeting held in Astana on 12th October 2011.

The deliberations of the Inter-Governmental Commission were marked by cordiality and warmth, which are characteristic of the traditionally close and friendly ties prevailing between the two countries. This discussions took place in 20 sectors of cooperation like Energy, Trade, Agriculture, IT, Science & Technology, Mines.

Both the sides agreed that the current level of bilateral trade is not commensurate with the potential existing between the two countries and called for conscious efforts to increase Indo-Kazakh trade through the Joint Working Group on Trade and Economic Cooperation and the India Kazakh Joint Business Council.

The meeting of the Joint Working Group on cooperation in hydrocarbon sector was held along with the IGC meeting. The next meeting of the Joint Working Group will be held in Kazakhstan. The dates will be agreed through diplomatic channel.

Both sides noted with satisfaction the decisions of the second meeting of the India-Kazakhstan Joint Working Group on Trade and Economic Cooperation held in Astana on 19-20 July, 2012.

Both sides also agreed that tourism provides the opportunity to strengthen the links between the two countries at human and cultural level.

Both sides agreed that the 11th meeting of the IGC will be held in Astana, Kazakhstan. The exact dates and agenda of the meeting will be worked out through diplomatic channels.