In 2024, Kazakhstan and Pakistan
intend to expand their cooperation, primarily in the trade and economic sphere.
To this end, the two countries plan to fortify interaction between their
transportation authorities and logistics companies. Kazakh Ambassador to
Pakistan Yerzhan Kistafin outlined the opportunities and prospects of the
bilateral relations in an interview with Silk Way TV channel. He noted that the
Pakistani market is of great interest to Kazakhstan, which can supply agroindustrial
products in large quantities to the country with a population of nearly 250
million people. Moreover, Kazakhstan gains access to the markets of Southeast
African states by developing trade ties with Pakistan. In general, Kazakhstan
is ready to export up to 40 types of products worth $21 million to Pakistan.
“We are talking about
agricultural products, as well as machinery production. Additionally,
negotiations are underway for supplying our energy resources to the Pakistani
market. In order to foster trade and economic cooperation between Kazakhstan
and Pakistan, it is crucial to establish an efficient transport and logistics
system,” said Kazakh Ambassador to Pakistan Yerzhan Kistafin.
The countries intend to continue
building both political dialogue and cultural-humanitarian ties. This year, a
delegation from the National Assembly of Pakistan is scheduled to visit Kazakhstan
in return. Also, Pakistani Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar is expected to
participate in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Astana. In
turn, a Kazakh delegation led by Prime Minister Alikhan Smailov will visit
Islamabad for the meeting of the Council of Heads of Government of the SCO.
“As part of these multilateral
events, we also expect conducting a high-level bilateral meeting between our
countries. Within the development of cultural and humanitarian cooperation, I
would like to highlight that this year we have completed the translation of
Abai’s ‘Words of Edification’ into the languages of Pakistan’s provinces.
Additionally, in collaboration with the Kazakh National University and the
National University of Modern Languages in Islamabad, we have successfully
completed the Kazakh-Urdu-English phrasebook, a project that spanned a year. Besides,
we are actively promoting inter-university cooperation,” Kistafin added.
