From October 10 to 12, 2021, SARIO, in cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of the Slovak Republic and the Embassies of the Slovak Republic in Nur-Sultan and Moscow, organized a business mission accompanying the Minister of Foreign and European Affairs of the Slovak Republic, Ivan Korčok, during his visit to Kazakhstan and Russia.The business delegation included 11 companies, mostly from the aviation industry, but also represented engineering, food, ICT, glass making sectors, and road and rail transport. In addition to the companies, the Slovak Innovation and Energy Agency (SIEA), the IT Association of Slovakia, and the School of Economics and Management of Public Administration in Bratislava took a part in the delegation.The work program began on October 11, 2021, in the Rixos Astana Hotel conference rooms. In cooperation with the local B2B facilitator from Kazakhstan, the B2B meetings took place for selected companies. Afterward, the entire delegation moved to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan, where a round table meeting was held and opened by the Minister of Foreign and European Affairs of the Slovak Republic, I. Korčok, and State Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan, E. A. Alimbaev. The event was attended by a total of 50 representatives from both parties, during which were presented trade and investment opportunities of both countries. After the conclusion of the first part, there was a short B2G networking. In the afternoon program part, B2B meetings carried out through a local partner continued, as well as 27 B2G meetings with representatives of Kazakh ministries and state-owned enterprises, especially from the aviation, defense, infrastructure, and education sectors. In regards to the B2B meetings with the private sector, 25 planned meetings were held during the day with Kazakh business partners operating in the food, glass, and pharmaceutical industries. Some entrepreneurs also used the allotted afternoon time for individual receptions at the AIFC financial exchange or in a heavy engineering plant. Thanks to the Embassy of the Slovak Republic in Nur-Sultan, entrepreneurs had the opportunity for informal networking, both with the ministerial part of the delegation, but especially with the invited Kazakh representatives during the evening reception in the hotel premises. On October 12, 2021, the entire delegation flew from Nur-Sultan to Nizhny Novgorod, Russia, where a ceremonial unveiling of the monument took place in the Park of Fame on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of Alexander Dubček’s birth. After a joint lunch, the business part of the delegation moved to the conference premises of the Corporate University of the Government of the Nizhny Novgorod Region, where a business forum was held with the participation of 25 Russian representatives from local administration, academia and engineering, ICT, transport, logistics, and agro-sector. In addition, some participants in the delegation took advantage of the short time in Nizhny Novgorod for individual meetings with their local partners, whether in the field of food distribution or heavy engineering. Before leaving for Bratislava at the end of the day, we registered approximately 20 B2B meetings which took place in Nizhny Novgorod.
