Italy and Kazakhstan sign €4bn set of deals during Meloni visit
Italy and Kazakhstan have signed a set of deals worth €4bn during a visit by Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni to Astana.
The agreements were across a variety of sectors, including oil and gas, renewable energy and water management.
Meloni said she did not consider her visit "merely a formality, but substantial".
"Italy was the first EU nation to have decided to invest in relations with Central Asia and its individual member states, setting up a stable format for the sharing of ideas," Meloni continued.
The Italian prime minister added that the EU-Central Asia Summit held in April had elevated relations between the regions.
Her Kazakh counterpart Qasym-Jomart Tokayev said his country attached "great importance to the development of trade between our states".
"Italy is Kazakhstan's third largest trading partner and the largest within the European Union. The volume of trade has reached 20 billion dollars (€17.6bn)," Tokayev noted.
Before heading to Kazakhstan, Meloni visited Uzbekistan for the first leg of a Central Asian trip that began on Wednesday.
For the occasion, one of the city of Samarkand's main streets was given the name "via di Roma", Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev said.
At the meeting between Meloni and Mirziyoyev, a joint declaration was signed that paves the way for €3bn in agreements between the countries.
Twenty-five individuals suspected of involvement in two kidnapping attempts earlier in May and targeted individuals tied to the cryptocurrency world are set to appear before a Paris court on Friday.
According to French media reports, magistrates are expected to decide whether or not to indict the suspects.
The suspects are suspected of involvement in the mid-May kidnapping attempt, which targeted the family of Pierre Noizat, the CEO and co-founder of cryptocurrency platform Paymium.
The attack occurred in broad daylight in Paris' 11th arrondissement and sent shockwaves across France after a witness shared a video of the incident on social media.
The suspects' involvement in another kidnapping attempt, which was set be carried out in the city of Nantes, but was foiled on Monday, will also be determined.
Investigators are working to establish whether a single network could be behind the two separate kidnapping attempts.
In response to the increasing number of violent attacks against cryptocurrency professionals and in the aftermath of the attack targeting Noizat's family, French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau convened an emergency meeting with industry leaders in mid-May.
During the meeting, Retailleau outlined ways of ensuring their security, including a plan to give them access to special emergency contact numbers.
"These serial kidnappings will be combated with specific tools, both immediate and short-term, to prevent, deter and hinder in order to protect the industry," Retailleau said after the meeting.
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