Kazakhstan’s foreign trade exceeded $55 billion in the first five months of 2024, Trend reports. China, Russia and the European Union traditionally remain the main trading partners.
According to the Ministry of Trade, Kazakhstan’s exports in January-May 2024 increased by 1.8% to $32.5 billion. Exports of non-resource goods and services exceeded $13bn, of which $10.5bn was the supply of finished products abroad.
The Ministry pays special attention to cooperation with China. In the first five months of this year, China’s share in the country’s total trade volume reached 20% at $11.4 billion, which is 6.6% higher than in the same period of the previous year. In January-May, Kazakhstan’s exports to China increased by 19.1% to $5.7 billion.
-In the medium term, Kazakhstan plans to increase exports of manufactured goods by 2.5 times and increase shipments to $12 billion. Regional co-operation with the PRC provinces has already started to yield positive results. Compared to the same period last year, trade with the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR) increased by 50% and exports by 35.3%. Exports of Kazakhstani goods to Sichuan Province increased by almost 30 per cent, while supplies to Jiangsu Province grew more than 10 times.’
In order to expand markets for Kazakhstani goods, a free trade zone for goods with Iran and trade in services agreements with Singapore were ratified in the first half of the year.
Negotiations with Indonesia and Mongolia are in the final stages, and negotiations are underway to sign free trade agreements with the UAE. The potential for increasing exports of Kazakhstan’s goods to these markets exceeds $1.9 billion.
On the instructions of the Head of State, an export promotion institute was established on the basis of the export insurance company Kazakh Export. On 23 January 2024, the Law ‘On Export Credit Agency’ was adopted, aimed at implementing a wide range of insurance and financial support measures. In the first half of the year, the agency provided support to 30 exporters.
