30% of Kazakhstan’s foreign trade falls on the EU
Prime Minister Alikhan Smailov chaired the 13th meeting of the Kazakhstan-European Union Dialogue Platform held in Astana. Those attending the event were the top officials of the central governmental structures, representatives of the diplomatic corps and business communities, Kazinform refers to primeminister.kz.
The meeting discussed the issues of improvement of the country's tax and customs systems, development of pharmaceutical industry, geological exploration, agriculture, licensing, business crediting, etc.
Taking the floor, Smailov said that EU is the largest trade and investment partner of Kazakhstan. The total volume of European investments in Kazakhstan exceeded $175 billion, with $5.2 billion invested in six months of 2023.
30% of Kazakhstan’s foreign trade falls on the EU. In 10 months [Ed. - of 2023], our trade turnover exceeded 34 billion US dollars. These indicators reflect our course towards enhancing trade and economic interaction, he said, adding that more than 3,000 European companies including such transnational corporations like Shell, Eni, Air Liquide, Alstom and Claas are operating in Kazakhstan.
This year was quite fruitful in terms of investment cooperation development. Our joint pool is renewed with large projects. Vivid examples are the implementation of a green hydrogen project by Svevind, signing an agreement with Total on construction of a wind farm with the capacity of 1GW, Knauf’s plans to launch the 4th plaster board production plant, as well as the launch of semi knocked-down assembly of vehicles by Scania, he said.
The Prime Minister added that creation of favorable conditions for business and investment climate improvement remain one of the priority tasks of the Kazakh Government.
He reminded that Kazakhstan had adopted 2026 Investment Policy Concept. The 2029 National Plan of Infrastructure Development and the National Digital Investment Platform are being developed.
He assured that the Government will continue creating favorable climate for investors.
Photo: primeminister.kz.
