Minister of National Economy Alibek Kuantyrov held a meeting with Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Azerbaijan to Kazakhstan Agalar Atamoglanov in Astana, the press service of the Ministry of National Economy reports.
The parties discussed issues of trade and economic cooperation between the two countries. At the end of 2022, the volume of bilateral trade turnover amounted to about $500 million. In the future, this figure can be increased to $1 billion.
The speakers noted the favorable location of both countries on important transport corridors. In this regard, the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route (TITR), which connects China and the European Union via Central Asia, the Caucasus and Turkey, is becoming increasingly relevant. Within the framework of the TITR there has been a more than twofold increase in cargo transshipment. During the conversation, the positive dynamics of transporting Kazakh oil through this route was noted.
In addition, the Minister confirmed Kazakhstan's interest in exporting domestic processed products to Azerbaijan. This is more than 100 non-resource commodity items worth about $300 million.
In turn, the Ambassador said that Azerbaijan is ready to increase the supply of agricultural products to Kazakhstan.
The parties also considered the prospects of cooperation between Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan in multilateral formats, including within the framework of the Organisation of Turkic States. Thus, our countries were the first to ratify the Agreement on the establishment of the Turkic Investment Fund (TIF). Separately, the sides discussed preparations for the upcoming SPECA forum (UN Special Programme for the Economies of Central Asia). The event will be held in November this year in Baku.
It is also reported that in January-August 2023, bilateral trade turnover between the countries totaled $398 million, up 57.2% compared to the same period of 2022.