The business circles of Kazakhstan and Iran have identified areas of promising cooperation
The Kazakh-Iranian Business Forum was held in Astana on June 27, 2023. The business event is timed to coincide with the working visit of Deputy Minister of Agriculture of the Islamic Republic of Iran Alireza Peymanpak to our country.
The organizers of the forum from the Kazakh side were the Ministry of Trade and Integration of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan, JSC "QazTrade" and JSC "NC "Kazakh Invest", from the Iranian side – the Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Kazakhstan.
The business platform brought together over 100 representatives of large and medium-sized companies from Kazakhstan and Iran. Entrepreneurs specializing in the supply of agricultural products, food products, mechanical engineering products, tourism services and investments held bilateral negotiations in the B2B format.
Opening the forum, Vice Minister of Trade and Integration of Kazakhstan Kairat Torebayev noted that the trade turnover between Kazakhstan and Iran in 2022 increased by 19.8% compared to the previous year and amounted to 528 million dollars.
«Increasing trade turnover between our countries is one of the most important tasks of Kazakhstan's trade policy. In the medium term, Kazakh companies are ready to additionally supply about 75 types of processed goods worth $ 250 million to Iran, primarily agricultural products», - Kairat Torebayev said.
The products of the Kazakh agro-industrial complex and the food industry are the most popular among the Iranian consumer. Today, Kazakhstani enterprises regularly supply domestic products to the Iranian market. The main exports to Iran are traditionally wheat, barley, sunflower oil, flax seeds, aluminum and ferrous metals. Among the imports, petroleum products, fresh vegetables and fruits, and construction materials of Iranian production prevail.
According to the Vice-Minister of Trade and Integration of the Republic of Kazakhstan, in the process of foreign economic activity, Kazakhstani entrepreneurs face difficulties entering foreign markets.
«In particular, there are no agreed veterinary certificates allowing the import of livestock products from Kazakhstan to Iran. In this regard, we hope for support from the Iranian side on the issue of exporting Kazakh agricultural and food products to the Iranian market in terms of approving permits for the import of 10 types of food products to Iran, as well as assistance in certification in accordance with the Iranian requirements of «Halal», - Kairat Torebayev addressed the representatives of the Iranian delegation.
Deputy Minister of Agriculture of the Islamic Republic of Iran Alireza Peymanpak said on the sidelines of the forum that the main purpose of the visit to Astana is to establish new business contacts between Kazakh and Iranian businesses.
«Our delegation includes major brands and food manufacturers. The entrepreneurs aim to hold fruitful negotiations with their Kazakh colleagues, discuss in detail the areas of cooperation and agree on signing agreements in order to eventually achieve the goal of increasing mutual trade turnover to $3 billion», - said Alireza Peymanpak, head of the Iranian delegation.
In turn, Vice Minister of Industry and Infrastructure Development of the Republic of Kazakhstan Dinara Shcheglova noted that Kazakhstan is making great efforts to develop transport and transit potential in the Central Asian region. Kazakhstan and Iran have signed an agreement on cooperation in the field of cargo and container transportation through the port of Amirabad. By the end of the year, the parties plan to increase the capacity on the route to 250 thousand tons of grain, and by the end of 2025 to increase the volume of traffic to 1 million tons per year.
Within the framework of the business forum, trade and investment opportunities of Kazakhstan were presented to the Iranian business community. Chairman of the Investment Committee of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan Ardak Zebeshev spoke about the attractiveness of conditions for doing business in our country. This is confirmed by the projects implemented jointly with Iranian companies. Thus, a meat processing plant and an oilseed processing plant have been built in Kazakhstan, and other major investment projects are under implementation.
Today, more than 500 companies with the participation of Iranian capital are registered in Kazakhstan, these are mainly representatives of small businesses. The enterprises operate in the sectors of manufacturing, construction, wholesale and retail trade, transport and warehousing, as well as provide hotel services.