Foreign Trade - The Times Of Central Asia

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Foreign Investment Foreign Trade business and economy

Kazakhstan and Malaysia Investment Roundtable

On May 17, the second day of his official visit to Kazakhstan, Prime Minister of Malaysia Anwar Ibrahim joined Kazakhstan Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov and representatives of the two countries’ business communities for a Kazakhstan-Malaysian investment roundtable in Astana. In his welcoming speech, the Kazakh prime minister reiterated that Malaysia is one of the key trade and economic partners of Kazakhstan in Southeast Asia. Over the past year, bilateral trade turnover increased from $150 million to almost $245 million. The goal is to now unlock the existing potential and exceed the pre-pandemic trade figure of $650 million. Bektenov announced Kazakhstan's intention to diversify exports to Malaysia and called on Malaysian business to jointly explore new opportunities to strengthen partnerships in services, manufacturing, finance, education, subsoil use, agriculture, and construction. Today, 48 companies with Malaysian capital operate in Kazakhstan and 17 joint investment projects totalling over $410 million are being implemented. Prime Minister of Malaysia Anwar Ibrahim announced his country’s intention to strengthen cooperation with Kazakhstan in tourism, education, the energy sector, as well as in the supply of Kazakh halal products. Kazakh and Malaysian businesses agreed to deepen investment ties and explore collaboration in new markets. Agreements and memoranda totaling more than $350 million were signed on cooperation in attracting investment in Islamic finance and trade development, as well as in food processing, mining, gold processing, and joint production of transformer and automotive oil.

Agriculture Industry Foreign Investment Foreign Trade Minerals

Major Mineral Fertilizer Production Plant Planned for Kazakhstan

EuroChem, a global fertilizer leader and China National Chemical Engineering Co. (CNCEC), a global provider of industrial engineering technologies are to collaborate on the design, construction, and commission of a large-scale chemical complex to produce mineral fertilizers in Zhanatas located in Kazakhstan’s Zhambyl region. The agreement was officially signed on 14 May in Astana. Scheduled to open in 2027, the construction of the chemical complex is part of the Integrated Kazakhstan Industrialization Roadmap and represents the third and final stage of a project in which EuroChem has invested over US$1 billion. EuroChem Group President Oleg Shiryaev said that once in operation, the plant will have an annual output of over one million tons of mineral fertilizers, in high demand by Kazakhstan, other Central Asian countries, China, Russia and Europe. According to a report by the Kazakh Ministry of Industry and Construction, the new enterprise will create 2,400 new jobs. During the signing of the agreement, Minister of Industry and Construction of Kazakhstan Kanat Sharlapaev, welcomed the input of world leaders in mineral fertilizer production as an important step in developing the country's chemical industry and emphasized: “To be truly food secure, fertilizers are a must. This is therefore a landmark project for us. Its joint implementation with EuroChem and Chinese partners is a great example of large Eurasian cooperation at its best and a significant event for regional food security.”

Foreign Trade China Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan to Expand Trade Cooperation with Chinese Provinces

On March 19th, Kazakhstan’s Minister of Trade and Integration Arman Shakkaliev met Ma Xingrui, Communist Party Secretary of China’s western Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) to discuss strengthening Kazakh-Chinese trade cooperation and the opening of a Kazakh trade mission in XUAR’s main city of Urumqi. In 2023, trade turnover between Kazakhstan and China reached $31.5 billion, with the XUAR accounting for over 64% or $20.3 billion of the total. Referencing his country’s focus on trade cooperation with China, the Kazakh minister stated, “Targeted work is being carried out with each province and a joint action plan is being developed to increase trade and attract investment in projects in priority areas. Kazakh businesses are showing more and more interest in supplying products to the Chinese market. We very much appreciate the support of the XUAR leadership in resolving issues of access of Kazakh goods to China.” The minister further reported, “To increase trade between our countries, especially with the XUAR, the Kazakh Head of State has instructed the opening of a trade mission in Urumqi. The QazTrade organization, which is subordinate to the Ministry of Trade and Integration, will be involved in the activities of this representative office. In the future, it will become a conduit between our manufacturers and Xinjiang companies interested in purchasing products.” The parties also discussed prospective joint investment projects and in particular, interest from Kazakh businesses in Chinese investment in the construction of feedlots for cattle, the creation of meat processing facilities and processing of cereals.

China Uzbekistan Foreign Trade

Uzbekistan-China Trade on the Rise

Uzbekistan and China are poised to increase bilateral trade to $20 billion a year. The statement, quoted by the news portal Novosti Uzbekistana (nuz.uz) was given by given by Obid Khakimov, director of Uzbekistan’s Center for Economic Research and Reforms (CERR) at the conference ‘Uzbekistan and China: promoting mutually beneficial cooperation for the benefit of the two countries’ peoples.’ In 2023, China ranked top amongst Uzbekistan's partners in trade, with a share of 22%. Over the past 7 years, Uzbekistan’s trade turnover with China has increased almost threefold from $4.8 billion to $13.7 billion; exports have risen from $2 billion to $2.5 billion, and imports from $2.7 billion to $11.3 billion. The analysis by the CERR illustrates Uzbekistan’s potential to increase its exports to China by substituting products currently sourced in large volumes from third world countries. In the main, these comprise fruit, vegetables and other foods, textiles, copper, and chemicals. Uzbekistan is especially interested in collaborative projects with China for the deep processing of locally mined strategic raw materials, and the implementation of socially important programs based on partnerships between public and private sectors. The early construction of the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway, which by cutting the distance travelled by 900km, will reduce the delivery time of cargo by 7-8 days, is another area of key importance to Uzbekistan. According to Uzbekistan’s Statistics Agency, in 2023, China’s contribution of 25.6% was the largest of the total sum of foreign investments and loans in Uzbekistan. In comparison, the contribution from Russia was 13.4%; Saudi Arabia, 7.9%; Turkey, 6.4%; the United Arab Emirates, 5.8%, and Germany, 4.3%.

Foreign Trade

Russia Reopens Market for Kazakhstan’s Livestock Products

As of January 15th, the Russian Federation has lifted restrictions on the import of livestock products from Kazakhstan. The decision was made following negotiations last December between the Ministers of Agriculture of Kazakhstan and the Russian Federation, Aidarbek Saparov and Dmitry Patrushev, the Ministry of Agriculture of Kazakhstan has reported. “This is an important step for the agricultural industries of Kazakhstan and Russia, which helps strengthen trade and economic ties between our countries,” Saparov stated. The import of Kazakh livestock products to Russia was suspended in January 2022 due to veterinary problems in several regions of Kazakhstan. After a two-year break, the Russian market has reopened to suppliers of livestock products from those regions of Kazakhstan where the vaccination of cattle has been confirmed by the World Organization for Animal Health. In other regions, the vaccination campaign is still ongoing. Saparov pointed to the fact that trade turnover between the two countries is uneven, with imports to Kazakhstan from Russia far exceeding exports. Therefore, Saparov focused on the potential for increasing the supply of Kazakh products to the Russian market. In other news, as Russia is currently experiencing an acute shortage of chicken eggs, the Russian side has asked Kazakhstan to increase the supply of eggs. The issue was discussed on January 17th by the Deputy Prime Ministers of Kazakhstan and Russia, Serik Zhumangarin and Alexey Overchuk. Zhumangarin instructed the Ministry of Agriculture to urgently consider this issue and find ways of increasing the supply to border regions of the Russian Federation. In 2022, Kazakhstan produced more than five billion chicken eggs, 102% of the population’s needs. From January-November 2023, 4.9 billion eggs were produced. During that period, Kazakhstan exported 186.6 million eggs — 114 million to Afghanistan, 70 million to Kyrgyzstan, and 2.6 million to Russia.