Wabtec, an American industrial company, may open an engineering center in Kazakhstan, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan. The agency made this statement after Wabtec executives met with Foreign Minister Murat Nurtleu in Washington, D.C.
«During the meeting, the two sides discussed perspectives of bilateral cooperation in the sphere of transport and industry, such as opening an engineering center in Kazakhstan and providing students of the Bolashak program with the opportunity to be interns at the company,» the foreign ministry said.
In December 2023, Wabtec acquired a 50% stake in Lokomotiv Kyrastyru Zauyty worth $81 million from Russian Transmashholding. The facility is the only manufacturer of diesel locomotives in Kazakhstan.
Currently, Wabtec controls 100% of the plant. (The company possessed 50% shares of the plant before the deal.) In early March, the Ministry of Industry of Kazakhstan said that Lokomotive Kurastyru Zauyty started exporting its diesel-electric engines to Mongolia. The sum of the contract with this country is believed to be $4 million.
In September 2023, Wabtec said that it would allocate $1 billion for the development of the transport and logistical sector in Kazakhstan. Wabtec is part of the Fortune 500 and one of the world’s leaders in the field of transport and logistics.