In light of the presentation “Strategic Perspectives for Bilateral Energy Cooperation between the EU and Kazakhstan”, a conference about the issues of energy security and renewable energies was held on the 16th of February at Nazarbayev University in Astana. The event was organized by Dr. Hefele, the director of the KAS regional program “Energy security and Climate change Asia-Pacific”, Mr. Helm, resident representative of the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung in Kazakhstan and Nazarbayev University.

Guests and panel participants included Mr. Baigarin, vice-president of the Nazarbayev University, Dr. Solovjeva, member of the Majilis parliament of the 4-5th convocation, the ambassador and head of the European Union Delegation in Kazakhstan, HE Mr. Hristea, the authors of the study Dr. Umbach and Dr. Raszewski, the journalist and Central-Asia expert, Dr. Wetzel and Ms. Aitzhanova, CEO of the National Analytical Center.

In the course of the event, two panel discussions chaired by Mr. Helm and Dr. Wetzel were held on the topics “Geostrategic Challenges of Energy Security” and “The Contribution of Renewable Energy to Energy Security” that gave the roughly 80 attendees, many of them energy experts, diplomatic corps and students, the opportunity to gain a deeper insight into the geopolitical and geo-economic dimensions of energy resources in the context of EU-Kazakh relations.

The participants of the event also took the chance to discuss the importance of renewable energies in Kazakhstan’s economic transformation process with experts and guests of honor between the panel discussions.

After the event, both Dr. Hefele and Mr. Helm showed themselves satisfied with the outcomes of the conference and seek to build upon them for further research.In their opinion, issues related to energy security and renewable energies should become more prominent in German –Kazakh partnership and cooperation.