00:00The dialogue between our leaders, the dialogue between ourselves is as friendly as one can possibly imagine.
00:07It's open, constructive, mutually supportive, and I think this is the way our relationship will be developing in the future.
00:15That's what I call strategic partnership. In fact, it's even more than that, it's even strategic friendship. Maybe we could
00:21rename it.
00:21At the forefront of our discussions and the development of the so-called Middle Corridor is of course of great
00:28significance and thankfully with Kazakhstan investing in its own money, with the EU supporting the development of the Middle Corridor,
00:36as well as through the investments from other partners such as China,
00:39we see that this is a corridor that is really coming alive and becoming a major, major artery connecting Asia
00:51and Europe.
00:52In fact, if we look at numbers, in 2021, 850,000 tons were transported along the Middle Corridor through the
01:04Kazakh ports on the Caspian Sea of Aktau and Kurik.
01:07Last year, it was 4.5 million tons.
01:11For what you said on the whole visa facilitation agreement, I'm also very happy that negotiations have come to an
01:18end.
01:19Of course, there are still some processes that have to go on because that's how the European Union works. It's
01:23never very simple and easy.
01:25It is an important topic, but indeed it will improve connectivity.
01:28So I also trust and hope that when we meet next year, if we meet next year for the same
01:34thing that we can really say that this has been done.
01:36In terms of student exchanges and university partnerships, of course, we've seen this now famous map of Kazakhstan with universities
01:48in every single regional center.
01:50Every month I get a new map with more universities.
01:52Yeah, because there are more universities that are coming and opening, but there are universities from European countries, from France,
01:59from Germany, from Poland, from Italy.
02:04Yes, and I think more to come.
02:07So because, yes, now Kazakhstan is really becoming an educational and science and research hub in the heart of Eurasia.
02:15And I think there are no ideas, no
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