Bilateral trade turnover between Kazakhstan and the Russian Federation reached $17 billion, which is a record

Of the over 42 thousand enterprises with foreign participation operating in Kazakhstan, almost half are Russian

The interaction between Kazakhstan and Russia in all areas is demonstrating steady growth, said Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, speaking at the plenary meeting of the 19th Forum of Interregional Cooperation between Kazakhstan and Russia. This was reported by the Akorda press service.

The forum takes place in Kostanay, the presidents of Kazakhstan and the Russian Federation participate in it from Akorda via video conferencing.

Tokayev noted that throughout the 20 years of its existence, the Forum of Interregional Cooperation has shown its relevance and effectiveness. In addition, the president noted that interaction between Kazakhstan and Russia in the trade, economic and investment sphere, industrial cooperation shows steady growth from year to year.

In particular, bilateral trade reached $17 billion, which is a record figure. The volume of direct investment from Russia exceeded $20 billion. Of the over 42 thousand enterprises with foreign participation operating in Kazakhstan, almost half, that is, 19 thousand, are Russian companies. Countries interact in almost all sectors of the economy.

Separately, Tokayev noted the growing level of cooperation in the field of energy.

“The recent launch of transit of Russian gas to Uzbekistan through Kazakhstan was a significant event. This project plays a key role in strengthening regional stability and energy security in Central Asia,” he said.

Tokayev recalled that construction of a Kazakh-Russian plant for the production of butadiene with a capacity of up to 340 thousand tons per year has begun with the Tatneft company. Negotiations on the construction of an enterprise that will produce polyethylene have been completed. Since 2019, the Joint Action Program in the field of industrial cooperation has been successfully operating; 30 projects worth $3.2 billion have already been implemented under it. About 60 more projects worth over $27 billion are at the implementation or development stage.

“All this convincingly emphasizes that Kazakhstan and Russia are strategic partners and allies,” President Tokayev said.

Tokayev pointed out the enormous opportunities for expanding trade and mutually beneficial cooperation in the agricultural sector. In his opinion, Kazakhstan and Russia are the largest producers of agricultural products and are among the top ten world leaders in grain exports. States also account for almost 10% of arable land and 9% of pastures and haylands worldwide.

“In Kazakhstan, over the past 5 years, the volume of gross agricultural output has more than doubled. Exports of agricultural products have also doubled, reaching almost $6 billion. Our agricultural products are supplied to 80 countries around the world. In the global food security index for 2022, Kazakhstan ranked 32- 1st place out of 113 countries. Thus, we are consistently developing the agro-industrial complex. I am confident that at today’s forum new coordinated approaches will be developed to ensure the food security of our countries on the principles of equality and taking into account each other’s interests,” he said.

Source: Sputnik.kz