“Any developed state, and any advanced society, should have their
national idea,” Mr Kim told Mr Nazarbayev in front of the conference’s
600 delegates. “And our national idea is you. You unite all the layers
of our population.”

On the sidelines of the conference, Mr Kim said that international investors
need not worry about the Kazakh government’s increasing role in the company.

“The policy of the government is for Samruk-Kazyna to be a partner, a
holding company, not to be a manager,” he told The Daily Telegraph.
“I believe that all international shareholders, including the funds, do
not have any issues in terms of governance.”

Samruk-Kazyna now holds 26pc in Kazakhmys, 15pc of which was transferred from
the Kazakh government, and the rest of which was purchased from Mr Kim.

In its statement Kazakhmys said it had not abandoned its plans to list in Hong
Kong, and aimed to proceed with the flotation by issuing new shares.

“The Group wishes to continue developing its already strong relationships
with China, and believes that this will be assisted by a successful Hong
Kong listing,” it said, adding that the new listing

was likely to be smaller than it would have been had Mr Kim offered his shares.

Michael Rawlinson, head of mining research at Liberum Capital, said that Mr
Kim’s decision may have been influenced by the potential sale of Kazakhmys’s
£3.5bn stake in ENRC, another London-listed Kazakh miner, later this year.

“If they were going to sell their stake in ENRC, you’d probably want to
wait until that’s been done, otherwise you’d be selling a stake in an
undervalued company,” he said.