ASTANA (TCA) — Over the first 11 months of 2018, Kazakhstan’s total exports grew by 26.4% compared to the same period in 2017, and non-primary exports amounted to $14.3 billion, Deputy Minister of Industry and Infrastructure Development Arystan Kabikenov said at a press conference in Astana on January 28, the official website of the Prime Minister of Kazakhstan reported.
Kabikenov said that today, Kazakhstan exports about 800 items of goods to 119 countries. At the same time, the export basket of Kazakhstan is annually replenished on average by 5-8 product groups. In particular, new groups of export goods in 2017 included automobiles, solar panels, gas boilers, cartridges, rails, and POS terminals.
“In 2018, we began to export honey to the UAE market; for the first time, Kazakhstan’s ice cream was delivered to the Chinese market. Within the framework of the trade and economic mission organized in China with the support of our ministry, for the first time, supplies of Kazakhstani meat to the Chinese markets were made, with a long-term contract concluded for five years,” Kabikenov said.
Along with this, the first Kazakhstani trading house was opened in Xi’an in 2018, where Kazakhstani products will be presented in 2019, which will also be promoted in the electronic trading networks of China.
Kabikenov noted the potential for increasing the export of Kazakhstani products to nearby countries, such as the Russian Federation, Azerbaijan, China, Uzbekistan, Ukraine and Iran. The main potential goods are products of the machine-building industry, food, dairy products, as well as building materials.
In 2019, Kazakhstan plans to open trade missions in the countries of Central Asia, China, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates. The purpose of these representative offices is to manually escort Kazakhstan exporters abroad.
To simplify access to the markets of China, the United Arab Emirates, and Iran, it is planned to invite inspection commissions from these countries to visit the enterprises of Kazakhstan exporters. In addition, the ministry plans to invite foreign retailers from China, Russia, Middle East, Turkey, and the EU to meet with domestic commodity producers.
