Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan plan to more than double trade volume.
Arman Shakkaliyev, head of the Ministry of Trade of Kazakhstan, made this statement at a meeting with Laziz Kudratov, Minister of Investment, Industry and Trade of Uzbekistan, Trend reported on Wednesday with reference to the Ministry of Trade and Integration of Kazakhstan.
“In order to achieve the goal of increasing trade turnover to $ 5 billion in the near term and $ 10 billion in the medium term, it is necessary to solve urgent trade problems and find new points of growth,” he said.
Thus, the main topic discussed during the meeting was the strengthening of trade and economic cooperation ahead of the upcoming meeting of the two heads of state, as well as the work of the “ICPC – Central Asia” industrial zone created on the Kazakh-Uzbek border and the transition of Uzbekistan to the rules of determining the country of origin from 2009.
Minister of Investment, Industry and Trade of Uzbekistan Laziz Kudratov said that Uzbekistan has sent the notification of accession to the 2009 Rules and plans to complete the process by the end of the year. This step is important in terms of achieving the goal of increasing the volume of mutual trade between the two countries.
One of the most important directions of strengthening relations between Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan is cross-border cooperation within the framework of the International Centre for Industrial Cooperation “Central Asia”. During the meeting, the parties exchanged information on the current state of affairs on the creation of the industrial zone and reported that entrepreneurs have been identified to start the implementation of the project.
The parties agreed to organise a project presentation in the industrial zone “ICPC – Central Asia” in September this year.
It should be noted that Uzbekistan is one of the largest trading partners of Kazakhstan, ranking 7th in 2023 and accounting for more than 57 per cent of Kazakhstan’s trade turnover with Central Asia. The volume of trade between the two countries amounted to $ 4.4 billion in 2023.
