French President Nicolas Sarkozy leads a high-powered business delegation to Kazakhstan on Tuesday to seal a string of lucrative deals in Caspian oil and gas, satellite technology and defence.
The contracts worth several billion euros in total will be the crowning moment to France's two-year diplomatic drive to upgrade economic ties and give French businesses a major stake in the Central Asian giant's energy boom.
A French presidential aide said Sarkozy's visit to Kazakhstan will "strengthen the economic partnership in a very concrete manner" with the signing of deals.
Oil giant Total S.A. (TOT) and GDF Suez S.A. (GSZ.FR) are to formalize a venture worth EUR1 billion ($1.46 billion) to develop the Khvalynkskoye gas field in the Caspian Sea, said the aide who asked not to be named.
Kazakhstan is set to announce Tuesday the awarding of a contract worth up to EUR1.2 billion to the Spie Capag consortium, owned by construction giant Vinci, to build a pipeline for the Kashagan oil field.
The pipeline would bypass Russia and allow deliveries directly to Europe.
Kazakhstan has long been courted by Western governments for its energy wealth and also as an alternative supplier to Russia, the source for 25% of the gas sold to European Union countries.
EADS Astrium, the aerospace subsidiary of the European Aeronautic Defence & Space Co. (EADSY), is set to return home with a EUR230 million deal for the sale of two earth satellites, according to French officials.
French train conglomerate Alstom is to win a EUR300 million contract to supply material for the new tramway being built in the Kazakh capital Astana.
Defense contractor Thales S.A. (HO.FR) will ink a EUR100 million contract to provide military radio communications equipment.
The visit will also see Sarkozy praise Kazakhstan as a "pillar of stability and moderation" in the region and sign an agreement to allow the French military to use Kazakh territory as a transit point for Afghanistan.
French companies raised their profile in Kazakhstan when Prime Minister Francois Fillon led a business delegation to Astana in 2008 and signed an agreement on developing a "strategic partnership."
During his visit to Paris in June, Kazkah President Nursultan Nazarbayev also discussed uranium production with France's Areva S.A. (ARVCY) company, the world's largest builder of nuclear reactors.
Kazakhstan is set to become the first former Soviet republic to assume the chairmanship of the Organization for the Security and Cooperation in Europe despite criticism of Nazarbayev's rights record.
The U.S.-based organisation Human Rights Watch has called on Sarkozy to raise the plight of activist Yevgeny Jovtis, sentenced to four years in prison for a traffic violation that lead to the death of a man.