ASTANA (TCA) — A Kazakh delegation headed by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Agriculture of Kazakhstan, Askar Myrzakhmetov, arrived in Beijing on March 31 in an effort to attract Chinese investments in Kazakhstan’s agro-industrial sector and promote the export of Kazakh agricultural products to China, the official website of the Prime Minister of Kazakhstan reported.
Presidents of Kazakhstan and China, Nursultan Nazarbayev and Xi Jinping, earlier reached agreements to expand cooperation in the frameworks of Kazakhstan’s Nurly Zhol and China’s One Belt-One Road programs, especially in the agro-industrial sector.
During the visit to China, the Kazakh delegation led by Myrzakhmetov discussed ways to implement these agreements with Chinese counterparts.
During the meeting with the Minister of State Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine of China, Zhi Shuping, the parties discussed the lifting of restrictions for the export of Kazakh agricultural products to the Chinese market. The sides agreed to speed up the procedures for coordinating draft protocols of veterinary and phytosanitary requirements for exports from Kazakhstan to China for 34 types of product. The Kazakh side initiated the issue of creating joint laboratories in Kazakhstan to control the quality and safety of agricultural products, as well as their accreditation.
Following the meeting, a protocol was signed between the two countries on the requirements of inspection, quarantine and sanitary requirements for the export of Kazakh wheat bran to China.
Thanks to this agreement, Kazakhstan had the opportunity to export wheat bran to the Chinese market for the first time, and the first to realize this unique chance was the joint Kazakh-Chinese processing company Huoerguosi Irbis International Trading Co LTD.
The Kazakh delegation also met with representatives of the business community of China. Myrzakhmetov discussed investing in projects for processing agricultural products with 8 large Chinese companies, including transnational companies Wilmart, CITIC and COFCO.
China National Machinery IMP & EXP Corp announced plans to organize an exhibition of agricultural machinery in Almaty in May 2017, and establish plants in Kazakhstan for agricultural machinery and equipment production.
