Kazakhstan and Afghanistan discuss prospects for cooperation

Serik Zhumangarin, Deputy Prime Minister of Kazakhstan and Minister of Trade and Integration, held a meeting with the Minister of Trade and Industry of Afghanistan, Alhaj Nuriddin Azizi, to discuss important aspects of the development of trade routes and increasing the volume of trade between the two countries, El.kz reports citing primeminister.kz.

The meeting is focused on the increasing the current volume of trade turnover of $1 billion to $3 billion, which will open up new prospects for the development of economic cooperation between Kazakhstan and Afghanistan.

Kazakh companies are actively expanding their range of exported goods to Afghanistan. Among the traditional products, such as flour and wheat, were the supply of rolled domestic metal, mineral fertilizers, rye and flax. Recent visits of Kazakh companies to Kabul were successfully completed with the first deliveries of energy drinks, flour products and mineral fertilizers. Interest in purchasing Kazakh sunflower oil was also noted.

To intensify cooperation with the Afghan side, it is proposed to use the potential of the Trade House of Kazakhstan in the city of Herat, as well as to create a trade mission of Afghanistan in Kazakhstan.

During the meeting, the possibilities of developing existing trade routes and creating alternative routes for the supply of goods through Afghanistan were also discussed. Currently, the transportation of grain and flour to Afghanistan through the Galaba station on the territory of Uzbekistan provides a discount of 20% to the railway tariff. However, for Kazakh grain cargoes transported through the territory of Uzbekistan in the direction of Afghanistan and Tajikistan, tariffs remain high.

In this regard, Serik Zhumangarin appealed to the Afghan side with a request to consider the possibility of reducing tariffs for Kazakh bulk cargo to $200.

In addition to economic cooperation, Kazakhstan and Afghanistan are actively developing the educational direction. Al-Farabi Kazakh National University has 130 students from Afghanistan, and the parties have expressed a desire to increase this number.

During the visit of the April delegation of Kazakhstan to Kabul, a contract was signed for the supply of fiber-optic Internet to Afghanistan from Kazakhtelecom JSC, which indicates the possibilities for further cooperation in the telecommunications sector.

Cooperation between Kazakhstan and Afghanistan continues to strengthen, providing new opportunities for economic development and expansion of trade ties.

Mutual interest in the development of cooperation allows us to build promising partnerships between the two countries.

It should be noted that since 2005, the volume of investments from Afghanistan to the economy of Kazakhstan amounted to $11.7 million, and there are 52 joint ventures operating in Kazakhstan, mainly in the field of trade.

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