Kazakhstan will supply products worth US$15 million to Kyrgyzstan. The agreement was reached at a business forum in Bishkek, where Kazakhstan was represented by 20 domestic companies. These are mainly foodstuffs, building materials, medical and chemical products.
“I think we should be proactive from the Kyrgyz side and show an example that we are in the same economic bloc, that we can cooperate in a civilized and open manner, so that no one creates any artificial barriers for us,” said Askar Salymbekov, Honorary President, Dordoi Association, Kyrgyzstan.
In addition, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan are ready to join forces to enter new markets. To this end, according to the agreement, an industrial trade and logistics hub will be built in the near future. It will be located near the Kara-Suu border crossing on the Kazakh side and the Ak-Tilek checkpoint on the Kyrgyz side. Storage and production facilities, as well as transport and loading infrastructure will be located on an area of 80 hectares.
“The priority areas of the transport and logistics complex were identified, including the production of goods with a high competitive advantage, consumer goods, the creation of facilities for the storage and processing of agricultural products, the development of cooperative production in the field of light industry and the construction of logistics facilities in the field of international commodity distribution system,” said Dinmukhamed Absattarov, Deputy Chairperson, QazExpoCongress.
Over the past year, the trade turnover between the two countries amounted to US$971 million. Experts believe that the potential of joint trade is much higher. It’s estimated at US$2.5 billion.
Translation by Assem Zhanmu
Editing by Saule Mukhamejanova
