As a strategic partner, Kazakhstan offers a wide range of opportunities for companies in North Rhine-Westphalia in the mechanical and plant engineering sector and in the supply of critical raw materials.
On October 7, 2025, VDMA NRW and ProduktionNRW took part in the Economic Round Table NRW-Kazakhstan. The event, organized by NRW.Global Business in cooperation with the NRW Ministry of Economic Affairs, the AHK Central Asia, the IHK Düsseldorf and the Committee on Eastern European Economic Relations, offered the opportunity for direct exchange with high-ranking representatives of the Kazakh government and economy.
The focus was on economic cooperation as well as raw materials, industry and technology partnerships. Kazakhstan, the largest country in Central Asia with rich raw material deposits and a strong commitment to the green transformation, is becoming increasingly important for the German economy – both as a procurement market and as a destination for investments in renewable energies and greentech.
The critical raw materials available in Kazakhstan, which are classified as strategically important in the EU, are particularly relevant. Closer economic cooperation with Kazakhstan makes it possible to diversify the supply of Germany and Europe and reduce dependence on China in this area.
This opens up a wide range of opportunities for the mechanical and plant engineering sector: deliveries of special machinery for raw materials extraction, plants for processing critical raw materials, investments in technologies for the green transformation and joint industrial projects in Kazakhstan. Participation made it possible to identify specific opportunities for cooperation and further expand the network between North Rhine-Westphalia and Kazakhstan.