ASTANA (TCA) — The European Union is looking for alternative routes to export its products to Kazakhstan’s market, the European Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development Phil Hogan said at a press conference in the Kazakh Ministry of Agriculture on April 14, the official website of the Prime Minister of Kazakhstan reported.
“The EU exports a lot of products to Kazakhstan. (…) I believe that the flow of exports could be increased if we were able to solve the issues regarding customs duties, tariffs, and transport routes. Of course, the situation related to the Russian embargo does not help in this case. And today we and the Minister of Agriculture of Kazakhstan discussed alternative routes to export European products to the market of Kazakhstan. The same is true for products from Kazakhstan, which is sent to the EU,” Hogan said.
Kazakh Agriculture Minister Asylzhan Mamytbekov said that Kazakhstan traditionally supplies grain and oil seeds to European markets.
“The European countries are buying Kazakh wheat as a high-protein product which improves local grain. Especially I would like to note that about 100-200 thousand tons of organic wheat is annually supplied by Kazakhstan to the EU,” the minister added.
Commissioner Hogan stressed the great potential of cooperation between European companies and Kazakh agricultural producers.
“Why are businessmen of the European Union interested in Kazakhstan? Why do they want to come here? They look at the chain of agricultural production and want to identify the point where it is possible to increase the added value. They are interested in recycling, creation of new jobs to improve the quality of life in rural areas and, of course, they are also interested not only in markets of Kazakhstan but also in China and the Far East markets,” he said.
