Kazakhstan aims to double trade turnover with UAE to $1 billion

Kazakhstan’s Minister of Trade and Integration, Arman Shakaliyev, said that mutual investments between the UAE and Kazakhstan continue to create qualitative opportunities for the growth of trade relations between the two countries, stressing the work on plans that will contribute to increasing the volume of trade by three times to reach $1 billion.

Shakaliyev said, during the activities of the World Investment Forum “UNCTAD” 2023, that plans were presented at the forum on new trade routes from the Caspian Sea to the ports of Abu Dhabi and Dubai, explaining the importance of the new route in giving them centralization to connect Central Asia as an agricultural center for regional markets.

“Today, the Central Asian region has become a key link in global transport and plays an important role as a continental bridge in the north-south and east-west directions. The development of the Trans-Caspian route and its connection with the global gateway strategy are gaining special importance, and the volume of cargo traffic along this corridor can be increased fivefold,” Shakaliev said.

Attracting investors

In the framework of attracting investors, he explained that the forum provides a clear understanding of the conditions that governments grant to invite investors, noting that Kazakhstan has established a wide range of investment preferences in 14 special economic zones, and a new tool has been introduced to support the country, namely an investment agreement that is concluded directly with the government, obtaining individual benefits and legislative stability for up to 25 years.

Kazakhstan’s Minister of Trade and Integration stressed that the main direction of Kazakhstan’s investment policy is to increase competitiveness, create optimal conditions for investors, and attract investment in sectors of the economy, explaining that last year 46 investment projects worth 4 billion dollars were implemented in Kazakhstan, which contributed to the creation of about 6,500 thousand jobs.

Diversification of the economy

He pointed to the advantages offered by Kazakhstan to promote investments, such as in-kind and non-financial grants, various tax benefits such as subsidies and exemptions from corporate income tax, value-added tax, land, and property, and a system of investment preferences that has been established by law to exempt from customs duties.

He drew attention to the government’s efforts to diversify the economy, which contributed to the creation of huge investment opportunities in agribusiness, transport, logistics, the IT industry, mechanical engineering, and others.

“Smooth investment and international trade are crucial for integration into global value chains, and we are focused on attracting investments in the development of transport and logistics, as Kazakhstan has become a vital transport and logistics hub in Eurasia, offering 11 international transit routes, 5 railways, and 6 roads, which has reduced the time in transportation by more than two times compared to sea routes from Asia to Europe,” Kazakhstan’s Minister of Trade and Integration said.

New route

“We have started working with large logistics companies such as Simatech Shipping & Forwarding and Abu Dhabi Ports to develop a new transport route for the supply of agricultural goods from the Kazakh port of Kuryk to the Arab Gulf countries,” he added.

“This route will allow Kazakh exporters to deliver their goods within three days, providing open access to the ports of the UAE and beyond to all major ports of India, Pakistan, Asia-Pacific countries, and the east coast of Africa,” Shakaliyev said.

He stressed Kazakhstan’s commitment to using its agricultural potential to address the global food shortage as one of the largest agricultural exporters in the world, noting its striving to facilitate investment and trade by applying the basic principles of transparency, predictability, and efficiency in trade and investment processes.

Investment climate

Kazakhstan’s Minister of Trade and Integration said that improving the investment climate, open dialogue with investors, and improving infrastructure to attract investment are the strategic direction of the government’s work and one of the most important conditions for the success of the modernization cycle being implemented in the country.

He pointed out that within the framework of climate action, both the UAE and Kazakhstan share visions and aspirations towards achieving climate neutrality targets by 2050 for the UAE and 2060 for Kazakhstan.