During the seminar at the 10th Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit in Gandhinagar on January 10, Vice Minister of Trade and Integration Kairat Torebayev spoke about the potential avenues of bilateral cooperation between Kazakhstan and India, QazMonitor reports citing the Ministry’s press service.
The minister informed the participants that in 2022, mutual trade turnover reached $2.5 billion. However, for the first 10 months of 2023, the trade volume between Kazakhstan and India decreased to $811.2 million, with exports at $312.7 million and imports at $498.5 million. The decline in Kazakh exports is attributed to a reduction in oil supplies to India, reaching levels similar to those during the pandemic in 2020-2021.
Kazakhstan, acting as India's primary trade partner among Central Asian countries, is ready to further increase the trade turnover by $148.1 million. With significant energy resources, our country is a reliable partner for India in ensuring the supply of oil, gas, and other resources. In turn, the expansive market of India is interesting for Kazakh exporters of goods and services.
The Kazakh exports to India mainly consist of crude oil, hydrogen, inert gases, and other non-metals, asbestos, and ferroalloys, while India’s exports include medicines, aircraft, equipment for sorting and crushing soil, telephone sets, and tea. Torebayev noted that Kazakh enterprises can increase supplies of products in the metal, chemical, food, construction, and machine industries. Moreover, he expressed confidence that the most promising areas for expanding cooperation can be projects in digital development, health, education, and tourism.
Currently, approximately 400 legal entities with Indian capital are registered in Kazakhstan. The inflow of foreign direct investment from India in Kazakhstan over the past 25 years has amounted to $414 million. To further develop the potential of bilateral cooperation, the government introduced a 14-day visa-free regime for Indian citizens in 2022.