Kazakhstan's oil and gas industry boasts a greater potential than that of the Middle East to multinational companies, the country's ambassador to the UK has claimed.

Speaking on the back of his first visit to Aberdeen, where he addressed the Scottish Kazakh Trade Desk (SKTD), Kairat Abusseitov, noted that, while the UK is currently the second-largest foreign investor in the Central Asian state, working relationships between the two countries can be built upon further.

"We are particularly keen that people realise our new financial centre in Almaty - the country's former capital - offers many opportunities and that our improved fiscal regulatory regime can stand alongside that of the UK or the US," he told the Sunday Herald.

The comments come as growing numbers of Scottish oil and gas companies are heading to Kazakhstan, with most focusing their attention on Atyrau, in the west of the country, with some estimates putting the proportion of new arrivals to the city now currently coming from Scotland at around 98 per cent.

"Within Scotland, especially in the northeast, there is a much greater awareness of Kazakhstan now," John Duncan, director of Aberdeen-based E-learning provider New Leaders, told the newspaper.

"I know of at least half a dozen companies actively looking at ventures - and not just in the oil and gas sector but also in education and training."

Global Education and Training event for Oil and Gas: Refining & Petrochemicals