Kazakhstan and Iran signed a memorandum on increasing the cargo flow of goods from 1 to 4 million tons per year

Such agreements were reached during a two-day working visit, from October 31 to November 1, 2022, of the Kazakh delegation headed by Deputy Prime Minister – Minister of Trade and Integration of Kazakhstan Serik Zhumangarin to the Islamic Republic of Iran. The delegation included representatives of the Kazakh milling, grain and meat unions, state bodies responsible for the development of agricultural and industrial policy of Kazakhstan, JSC NC "KTZ", Food corporations and other interested market participants.

The possibilities of entering new markets for Kazakh agricultural and industrial products, the removal of barriers in the current North-South route have become key topics of discussion between the Kazakh and Iranian sides. Serik Zhumangarin noted that traditionally warm, trusting relations have been established between Kazakhstan and Iran. A number of meetings at the highest level, held in June, September-October 2022, gave a serious impetus to the promotion of trade and economic partnership between the countries. Following the visits of the heads of state, a number of agreements were reached and instructions were given aimed at activating Kazakh-Iranian cooperation.

"Today Kazakhstan is ready to export wheat and barley, confectionery and flour products, meat, vegetable oils and other products," Serik Zhumangarin said at a meeting with Iranian Agriculture Minister Seyed Javad Sadatinejad. – We are interested in increasing the volume of mutual trade in agro-industrial products with Iran to $1 billion and supplies to the new markets of Pakistan, India, Southeast Asia, and East Africa for Kazakhstan. And the trading experience of our Iranian colleagues in these markets would be very useful for our business.

During the meeting with the Minister of Transport and Urban Development of Iran Rostam Qasemi, Serik Zhumangarin announced the intentions of the Kazakh side to increase the volume of cargo flow of goods from 1 million to 4 million tons per year. To this end, the meeting participants agreed to adopt by the end of 2022 a trilateral Roadmap to eliminate infrastructure bottlenecks and develop the potential of the North-South route for 2022-2025. The parties agreed to work out the following steps for inclusion in the Roadmap:

- creation of a special visa regime for cargo transport drivers, participants in international transportation. Additionally explore the possibility of obtaining similar visa exemptions for business representatives;

- optimization of the customs clearance processes of the two countries, including the introduction of a unified tariff, a single transport document and a single information system;

- launch of a pilot project for the transportation of goods by road on the route "Kazakhstan – Turkmenistan - Iran" using navigation seals, following the example of "Kyrgyzstan – Kazakhstan - Russia".

Also, in order to improve the efficiency of logistics processes and bilateral trade, the parties agreed to work out the possibility of creating a joint export-import company.

All the agreements announced during the meetings were consolidated by the signing of a memorandum on cooperation in the development of trade, transport and logistics.

For reference: In January-August 2022, the trade turnover between Kazakhstan and the Islamic Republic of Iran increased by 9.3% and amounted to $350.2 million (8 months 2021 - $320.4 million). At the same time, the volume of exports remained at the level of 8 months of last year (a decrease of 0.1%) and amounted to $215.3 million. The trade turnover between Kazakhstan and Iran in 2021 amounted to $440.9 million, which is 85.1% higher than in 2020 ($238.1 million).