Kazakh-Tajik Business Forum takes place in Astana

Deputy Prime Minister-Minister of Trade and Integration of Kazakhstan Serik Zhumangarin and Deputy Prime Minister of Tajikistan Ziezod Sulaimon took part in a business forum in Astana.

The business event takes place on the eve of the state visit of the President of the Republic of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon to Astana.
Opening the forum, Deputy Prime Minister of Kazakhstan Serik Zhumangarin recalled the intentions of our countries to strengthen bilateral trade and economic cooperation. By the end of 2022, Kazakhstan and Tajikistan have made significant progress in this direction. Thus, trade between the countries increased by 18.5% and reached $1.4 billion. Export deliveries of Kazakhstani goods increased by 9.7% and amounted to $877.6 million. The growth was mainly due to an increase in exports of wheat, margarine, sunflower oil, barley, hot-rolled unalloyed steel rods, cyanides, aluminum oxides and hydroxides. The positive trend in Kazakhstan's exports continued in the first quarter of 2023. Imports from Tajikistan increased by 37.9% last year and amounted to $501.4 million.

"The task set by the heads of our countries to bring the trade turnover between our states to $1 billion has been successfully completed. But we should not stop there, because we have all the possibilities for multiplying the result. According to our forecasts, the total potential of trade in the Central Asian region is about $10 billion," Deputy Prime Minister—Minister of Trade and Integration of Kazakhstan Serik Zhumangarin said.
At the same time, the key role in trade cooperation is assigned to the agricultural sector. Last year alone, trade in agricultural products showed an increase of 40%, exceeding half of the total volume of mutual trade between Kazakhstan and Tajikistan, or $578.3 million.

The positive dynamics is also demonstrated by the transportation of goods by rail between our countries. In 2022, the volume of export-import traffic amounted to 563.87 thousand tons, an increase of 90.23 thousand tons compared to 2021. Road haulage increased by 66%, reaching 288.65 thousand tons.
As Deputy Prime Minister of Tajikistan Ziezod Sulaimon noted at the forum, in the context of increasing global challenges and risks, one of the priority tasks of the partner countries is the expansion of trade and economic relations.

"Kazakhstan is an important partner of Tajikistan, and we value our close and friendly relations. The development of economic cooperation is of great importance for us. Today, the Republic of Kazakhstan ranks second among Tajikistan's foreign trade partners in terms of export-import operations," Ziezod Sulaimon stressed.