Marco Alberti, the Ambassador of Italy to Kazakhstan and the Kyrgyz Republic, reflected on his transformative three-year tenure in Kazakhstan in an exclusive interview with The Astana Times. He emphasized the two nations’ creative synergy and deepening economic and cultural ties. As his time in Kazakhstan draws to a close, Alberti offers insights into the lessons he has learned and his vision for the future of Italian-Kazakh relations.
Economic and cultural ties flourish
Over the past three and a half years, Italy and Kazakhstan have achieved significant milestones in their bilateral relations, particularly in trade and cultural exchange.
“Italy is still Kazakhstan’s third global commercial partner and the number one in Europe. The trade turnover significantly soared by 40-45% over the last years, with exports of Made in Italy almost doubled. Besides, we remain the largest importer of Kazakh goods,” Alberti said.
The Italian Ambassador emphasized that Italy’s approach to enhancing bilateral relations was crafted by three strategic drivers: diversification, complementarity, and innovation.
“Diversification was, is and will always be essential for our cooperation. Historically, the Italian presence in Kazakhstan has been focused on oil and gas. Good, but not enough. We aimed to expand our presence into different industries, like petrochemicals, agribusiness, tourism, creative industries and renewable energies, to accompany Kazakhstan towards its full decarbonization. I have seen Italy and Kazakhstan working hard to transform their excellent bliateral relations intoa partnership. To that purpose, President’s Tokayev’s visit to Rome in January ‘24 was a realboost,” he said.