Kazakhstan plans to supply non-primary goods worth over $304 million to Azerbaijan

The 19th meeting of the Kazakh-Azerbaijani Intergovernmental Commission on Trade and Economic Cooperation has opened in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan.

The purpose of the meeting is to expand contacts between the two countries through the implementation of new projects of friendly states. The Kazakh delegation was headed by Deputy Prime Minister - Minister of Trade and Integration Serik Zhumangarin.

Azerbaijan is a key trade and economic partner of Kazakhstan in the South Caucasus. In 2022, the republics maintained a high level of trade cooperation, which exceeded $461 million during this period. At the same time, by 2021, trade turnover increased by 39%, including exports increased by 30.4% (from $287.9 to $375.3 million), imports almost doubled (from $44.4 to $86.6 million).

There are more than 1,195 enterprises with the participation of Azerbaijani capital and 210 joint ventures operating in Kazakhstan. The volume of Azerbaijani investments in the economy of Kazakhstan is more than $365 million.

Welcoming colleagues at the plenary session, Serik Zhumangarin thanked the Azerbaijani partners for the warm welcome and stressed that the vector of interaction between the countries is determined by the Agreement on Trade and Economic Cooperation and the Comprehensive Program for the Development of Cooperation for 2022-2026, signed in August 2022 during the official visit of the President of Kazakhstan K. Tokayev to Azerbaijan.

«Today we are working on the supply of 110 types of Kazakhstani non-primary goods to the Azerbaijani market in the amount of more than.304 million, they are products of metallurgy, petrochemicals, food industry, mechanical engineering, pharmaceuticals, construction goods, constantly monitoring their dynamics and seeing good growth in some groups. The increase in exports to Azerbaijan was ensured, including through the supply of cargo and passenger ships, ferries, rails and other finished products», — Serik Zhumangarin said.

Speaking about the positive dynamics of trade turnover, S. Zhumangarin noted that in addition to the already traditional export-import items with Azerbaijan, there is now a gradual increase in the share of Kazakh processed products in the structure of trade turnover.

«Today, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan are initiators and active participants in many regional, as well as large transnational projects. We are bound by strong fraternal relations with deep historical roots, cemented by many years of successful experience of cooperation. Thanks to the political will of the Presidents of our countries – Ilham Aliyev and Kassym-Jomart Tokayev – relations between our countries are developing successfully. And it is no coincidence that during the visit of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan to Azerbaijan in August last year, a Declaration was signed on strengthening strategic relations and deepening allied cooperation between the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Republic of Kazakhstan», — Azerbaijani Energy Minister Parviz Shahbazov stressed.

As neighboring countries bordering along the watershed in the Caspian Sea, our countries are making efforts to ensure transit connectivity of cargo flows. Today, the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route is a priority and an important link between Asia and Europe.

Kazakhstan is actively working within the framework of the Roadmap for the simultaneous elimination of bottlenecks and the development of the Middle Corridor for 2022-2027. The construction of a «container hub» on the basis of the Aktau port, the construction of the second railway tracks on the «Dostyk – Moynty» section and the bypass railway line of the «Almaty» station has begun. This will increase the capacity of the Kazakh-Chinese transport corridor by 5 times — from 24 to 120 trains per week, as well as increase the speed of container trains up to 1500 km per day. The joint document plans dredging operations in the ports of Aktau and Kuryk, measures are being taken to develop the ferry fleet.

Voluminous blocks of issues were considered in relation to cooperation in the fields of transport and transit, logistics, energy, communications, agriculture, development of joint ventures, activation of cultural ties, tourism and other areas.

Following the meeting of the Intergovernmental Commission, the parties signed a joint protocol and reached specific agreements on the promotion of projects in the trade and economic sphere. The Kazakh side expressed readiness to expand cooperation in the field of joint implementation of strategic projects under the insurance coverage of JSC «ESC «KazakhExport». An agreement was reached to expand cooperation in the field of intermodal rail freight transportation in the directions Azerbaijan– Kazakhstan– Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan–Turkey/Europe– Kazakhstan in transit through Azerbaijan. Within the framework of the «Digital Silk Road» project, an agreement was reached to continue the implementation of the project of joint construction of fiber-optic communication lines along the bottom of the Caspian Sea connecting Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan.