Kazakhstan's trade turnover with the countries of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation amounted to $8.4 billion - Arman Shakkaliev

Minister of Trade and Integration Arman Shakkaliyev addressed the 39th meeting of the Standing Committee of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation on Economic and Trade Cooperation (COMSEC) in Istanbul.

The official opening ceremony of the event took place on December 4 with the participation of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) is the largest official governmental Muslim international organization uniting 57 countries. Today, OIC countries make up more than a quarter of the world's population -1.7 billion people, covering four continents - Asia, Africa, Europe and South America. Over the past 3 years, total trade turnover between member states has increased from $3.7 trillion to $4.5 trillion.

During the meeting, the ministers of the participating countries discussed further efforts to strengthen cooperation, including in trade and agriculture.

It should be noted that Kazakhstan seeks to make a significant contribution to food security. Over the past five years, our country has doubled the volume of agricultural products and exports them to more than 80 countries, actively working in this direction with OIC members.

«OIC countries are among the active trade and economic partners of Kazakhstan. Our trade turnover for the first 9 months of 2023 amounted to $12.5 billion. Exports of Kazakhstani products to the OIC countries account for more than half of the total trade turnover - $8.4 billion. We need to combine the efforts of all members of the Organization in the development of transport and logistics infrastructure and expansion of investment cooperation», - said the head of the Ministry of Trade Arman Shakkaliev, speaking with a report on improving the potential of OIC member states in the field of trade.

In his speech, the Minister of Trade and Integration of Kazakhstan thanked the President of the Republic of Turkey for the high organization of the event and noted that Turkey is the largest trading partner of Kazakhstan, accounting for 35% of the total trade turnover with OIC countries.