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28 July, 2009 0:49 AM
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| Newsletter No. 1370
The following newsletter has been contributed by Christopher Len (Shingetsu Member No. 82), who is the Coordinator of our Central Asia Contact Group. Len is based at the Institute for Security and Development Policy (ISDP), Stockholm, Sweden.
Japan opened a major uranium mine in Kazakhstan on April 24th, gaining access to alternative energy supplies from resource-rich Central Asia. Khorasan-1, located in Kyzylorda region of southern Kazakhstan, is developed and managed by the Kyzylkum Company, whose shareholders are the Kazatomprom national company (the Kazakh state uranium company), a consortium of Japanese energy companies (Toshiba, TEPCO, Chubu Electric, Tohoku Electric, Kyushu Electric, and Marubeni), and Canada’s Uranium One. A delegation of Japanese executives, the head of Kazatomprom, and other officials flew to the remote location for the official ceremony. Kazakh Prime Minister Karim Masimov pressed a symbolic button to officially begin production at the site. The mine took only three years to develop, compared to the usual timeframe of up to six years for mines of this scale. So far, total investment in the project has reached more than US$432 million, with 13% of this (US$58 million) spent on infrastructure. Khorasan, with uranium reserves of more than 80,000 tons, will produce about 180 tons of the commodity this year and reach full capacity by 2014 when it is due to start yielding 3,000 tons of uranium a year. Production is focused on meeting the demands of Japan’s nuclear power industry as Kazakhstan seeks to supply about a third of Japanese uranium demand by 2014. In total, Japan will get at least 2,000 tons of uranium from Kazakhstan by 2014. According to Kazuhiro Suzuki, executive officer of Tokyo Electric, Kazakhstan will export 600 tons of uranium from the Kyzzylkum venture to Japan. Japan will import the remaining 1,400 tons of uranium from another project, Baiken-U. Baiken-U, a venture between Kazatomprom, Toshiba, and the Tokyo Electric-led companies, will start production next year, reaching a peak of 2,000 tons in 2014. Kazakhstan, a former Soviet republic west of China, has a fifth of global uranium reserves and it is one of the world’s leading producers of uranium, after Australia and Canada, which account for half of annual production. It may become the world’s top uranium exporter as soon as this year. Its push to develop uranium is part of a broader strategy to diversify the economy which is heavily dependent on oil. Cooperation with Japan also highlights its determination to pursue a foreign policy that is less dependent on Russia, currently its biggest trading and diplomatic partner. Kazatomprom has pursued its ambition to raise its profile as a global leader, buying 10% of Toshiba’s US-based Westinghouse nuclear power unit and courting energy consumers such as Japan and neighboring China.
On March 31st, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan announced that the third round of negotiations to conclude a Japan-Kazakhstan Agreement for Cooperation in the Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Energy would be held in Vienna on April 2nd and 3rd. Discussions centered on the contents of the agreement, aimed at promoting cooperation between Japan and Kazakhstan in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy. The Japanese side was led by Tsutomu Arai, director of the International Nuclear Energy Cooperation Division. The Kazakh side was headed by Timur Zhantikin, chairman of the Kazakhstan Atomic Energy Committee.
On April 25th, it was reported by Bloomberg that Toshiba, Japan’s largest supplier of reactors, is also in talks to buy nuclear-fuel rod assemblies from Kazakhstan, but there were no details released on when an agreement may be signed or how much it may be worth.
Meeting between Kazakh Ambassador and Vice President of House of Councillors On April 8th, Central Asian News with reference to Kazinform reported that Kazakh Ambassador to Japan Akylbek Kamaldinov and the Vice-President of the House of Councilors, Akiko Santo, as well as deputies who are members of the Japanese Parliamentary League of Friendship with Kazakhstan, held a meeting. Kamaldinov spoke on Kazakhstan’s anti-recessionary measures and main provisions of the President’s Address to the Nation. According to the report, Japan is said to be interested in Kazakhstan’s international initiatives such as the Congress of the World and Traditional Religions Leaders, the Conference on Interaction and Cooperation in Central Asia (CICA), Kazakhstan’s OSCE chairmanship in 2010, as well as the activities dedicated to commemorating sixty years after the first nuclear explosion was detonated on the territory of Kazakhstan -- and the 20th anniversary of the Semipalatinsk test site shutting down.
Kazinform reported on April 11th that political consultations between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan were held in Astana. Japanese delegation was headed by Deputy Director-General of European Affairs Bureau Nobukatsu Kanehara. The discussion included concerns about the implementation of agreements reached during the visit of the President Nazarbayev to Japan in 2008, an exchange of views on collaboration in the trade and investment spheres, the expansion of the legal basis of bilateral relations, and also the consideration of further cooperation within the framework of such international organizations as the UN, CICA, and Central Asia Plus Japan. The sides also made a settlement on improving the status of Kazakhstan-Japan Cooperation Committee by integration of this authority with a number of state bodies of both countries.
According to Kazinform, Kazakh Ambassador Akylbek Kamaldinov met with Chairman of the Tokyo Chamber of Commerce and Industry Tadashi Okamura on April 22nd to promote trade and economic cooperation between Kazakhstan and Japan. Kamaldinov spoke about the main directions of socio-economic development of Kazakhstan, the government’s measures to overcome the global financial crisis, as well as priority investment projects in the spheres of agriculture, infrastructure, and energy. The parties reached agreement to enhance relations between the chambers of commerce and industry of the two states. They also agreed to exchange information and hold joint business seminars aimed at development of partnership relations between the small and medium businesses of Kazakhstan and Japan.
Flights between Kazakhstan and Japan: Novosti-Kazakhstan reported on April 13th that Air Astana will open a flight connection between Kazakhstan and Japan in 2011. Details were not provided. Cooperation between Universities: Central Asian News reported on April 2nd that a Kazakh national university named after Al-Farabi and Waseda University agreed on a cooperation plan, which will include academic activities, cooperation in scientific research, and the training of specialists. Joint Archaeological Expedition: On April 28th, Central Asian News carried an article indicating that Kazakh and Japanese scientists are planning to organize a joint archaeological expedition to explore ancient kurgans, or tumuli, in western Kazakhstan. According to Murat Sdykov, director of the Centre of History and Archeology, “Archaeologists of the Western Kazakhstan Regional Centre of History and Archeology and a Japanese university will organize a joint expedition to explore royal kurgans Kyryk-Oba.” The expedition is planned for “summer or autumn” 2009. Japan Red Cross Donation: Central Asian News reported that the Japanese Red Cross Society will allocate about US$74,000 to Kazakhstan for the Kazakh Red Cross Society’s activities. According to the report, the Japanese society has made such a decision in view of successful humanitarian aid that the Kazakh Red Cross Society provides to the Semipalatinsk nuclear tests victims.
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