Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan are implementing joint projects in the field of agriculture

First Vice Minister of Trade and Integration of the Republic of Kazakhstan Arman Shakkaliyev reported on the efforts undertaken by Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan to develop joint projects in the agricultural sector. All of them are included in the Roadmap for the implementation of investment agreements and trade contracts signed during the visit of the President of Kazakhstan to Tashkent in December 2022.

«A project on joint cultivation of grain and fodder crops for further export to Uzbekistan will be launched on the territory of Akmola and Kostanay regions by the end of 2023. In the near future, the Uzbek side plans to visit the regions to determine the land plots and conditions of partnership», - Arman Shakkaliyev said, speaking at the Asia Grain Conference in Almaty.

According to the First Vice Minister, the number of joint projects also includes the construction of a feedlot for 20,000 cattle and a meat processing complex, as well as a plant for processing fruit and berry crops in the Turkestan region. In addition, the Roadmap provides for the creation of a grain processing cluster for deep processing of up to 1 million tons of Kazakh grain and the launch of a vegetable oil refining project at the site of the International Center for Industrial Cooperation «Central Asia».

As part of the expansion of trade cooperation between Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, a joint export-import company UZKAZTRADE has been established, 50% of which belongs to Kazakhstan's JSC «QazTrade» and 50% to Uzbek UZTRADE. The foreign trade company will assist businesses in increasing mutual supplies of products and entering the markets of third countries, developing proposals to remove restrictions and barriers in mutual trade. At the initial stage, it is planned to purchase fruit and vegetable products from Uzbekistan to meet the needs of the Kazakh market.

The importance of the Uzbek direction for Kazakhstani entrepreneurs is clearly reflected in the figures. As Arman Shakkaliyev noted, the most popular instrument of state support for exporters was the reimbursement of part of transportation costs and costs for the promotion of goods to foreign markets, including the Uzbek market. Of the 8.85 billion tenge allocated to Kazakhstani exporters for reimbursement of costs, in the context of export destinations for approved applications, almost 18% fell on Uzbekistan.

In addition, over the two years of the implementation of the Export Acceleration Program by «QazTrade» JSC, 85 domestic producers have chosen Uzbekistan as a target market for promoting their products (in 2021 – 29 companies, in 2022 – 56 companies).

It should be noted that the 10th international conference in Almaty was attended by about 250 delegates from 21 countries, including the largest importing countries of Kazakh agricultural products: Uzbekistan, China, Afghanistan, Turkey, as well as Ukraine, EU states, the UAE, Malaysia and others.