ASTANA (TCA) — Kazakhstan has a real opportunity to enter the top ten countries exporting agricultural and food products to China and Russia. It was said at the International Agro-Industrial Investment Forum held in Astana last week. The forum aimed at assisting Kazakhstani business in finding partners for joint implementation of projects in agriculture and food production, the Atameken National Chamber of Entrepreneurs of Kazakhstan reported.
“The current state of the agrarian sector of Kazakhstan can be characterized as stably developing and having significant potential for further growth, ensuring the country’s food security and fully satisfying the needs of the domestic market in basic types of food products and raw materials,” said Nurzhan Altaev, Deputy Chairman of Atameken.
Altaev also stressed that more than 40% of the Kazakh population lives in rural areas. At the same time, the agrarian sector forms about 5% of the gross domestic product. “The domestic market of the country is self-sufficient with the main types of agricultural products and has the potential for export. We have significant reserves to increase production volumes. Kazakhstan can occupy a serious niche in domestic and export markets as a supplier of high-quality, natural and environmentally friendly products,” he added.
Vice-minister of Agriculture Gulmira Isaeva spoke about investments in the country’s agriculture.
“At the end of 2016, the volume of investment in agriculture was 253 billion tenge. This year we expect an increase of 3.5% or a total volume of 262 billion KZT. The volume of investment last year for food production amounted to 60 billion KZT, this year it is expected to grow by 5.2% to reach 66 billion KZT,” Isayeva said.
Within the framework of the Agro-Industrial Investment Forum, a number of important agreements and memorandums were signed to attract investments in the agricultural sector of Kazakhstan in order to support its economic diversification.
