Kazakhstan is ready to increase the supply of export goods to the Swiss market by $ 500 million

At the 11th meeting of the Kazakh-Swiss Commission on Trade and Economic Cooperation in Astana, the possibilities of strengthening bilateral mutually beneficial partnership were discussed. The Kazakh delegation was headed by Deputy Prime Minister - Minister of Trade and Integration of Kazakhstan Serik Zhumangarin, the Swiss delegation was headed by Ambassador, Commissioner of the Federal Council for Trade Agreements, member of the Board of SECO, Head of the Department of Bilateral Relations of SECO Erwin Bollinger.

Swiss business is quite widely represented in Kazakhstan. Basically, these are the so—called industry flagships - Philip Morris International (tobacco industry), Glencore International (MMC), Roche Holding (pharma), SGS (certification) or ABB (electrical engineering), Bühler Group (mechanical engineering) and others. In total, about 300 companies with the participation of Swiss capital operate in our country.

Serik Zhumangarin noted that for 30 years since the establishment of diplomatic relations, the two countries have consistently confirmed their commitment to an open political dialogue and further strengthening. Relations are developing in line with mutually beneficial trade and economic cooperation.

«By the end of 2022, the trade turnover between our countries amounted to $1.4 billion. For countries such as Switzerland and Kazakhstan, such a trade turnover is not so much. We have analyzed our potentially export-ready goods, and we are ready to expand the current list by another 90 commodity items worth $546.4 million. Considering the high quality of Swiss goods, we are ready to offer premium segment products: caviar, fish, honey, wine and vodka products. We are actively working with the European Commission, the export of fish products has already been agreed, honey is being worked out. At the working groups, we initiated the issue of certification of supplies of Kazakh caviar to the EU marke», — Zhumangarin said.

During the meeting, the sides discussed issues of bilateral cooperation in areas of mutual interest: trade and investment, agriculture, aviation, energy, technical regulation, standardization and metrology, education and science, intellectual property, as well as attracting venture investments. Following the results of the intergovernmental commission, the parties agreed to exchange lists of potential export goods that can be delivered to the markets of Kazakhstan and Switzerland, and to work on an ongoing basis to find partners among the business circles of both countries and establish supplies.

Switzerland is among the top 3 investors in Kazakhstan, after the Netherlands and the USA. The volume of Swiss direct investments in Kazakhstan has exceeded $31 billion since 2005. The trade turnover between the two countries in 2022 reached $1.4 billion, an increase of 6.4% compared to 2021 ($1.3 billion).