Kazakhstan aims for closer economic cooperation with Belarus

"During the business forum enterprises of the two countries are expected to conclude preliminary agreements, including on the establishment of joint enterprises in Belarus. The cooperation agreements will be signed in November this year at the next meeting of the Belarus-Kazakhstan intergovernmental commission for trade and economic cooperation," Yergali Bulegenov said. 

The organizers of the business forum are the Minsk Office of the Belarusian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and the National Export and Investment Agency Kaznex Invest of the Ministry of the Industry and New Technologies of the Republic of Kazakhstan,BelTA reports.

The delegation of Kazakhstan includes representatives of nine companies that produce a variety of finished products. They show interest in cooperation with Belarusian enterprises in power engineering, metallurgy and petrochemistry, with construction companies, design institutes, with manufacturers of alcoholic and nonalcoholic beverages, buyers of wool and leather, grocery wholesalers.

"The business forum aims to promote trade and economic relations between Kazakhstan and Belarus, boost export of Kazakhstani products, the quality of which is not inferior to European products," said Askar Arynov, managing director of the export promotion department of the National Export and Investment Agency Kaznex Invest. In January-July 2012 Belarus' imports from Kazakhstan reduced by 17% in comparison with the same months a year ago, he said.

Over the period under review the trade between Belarus and Kazakhstan went up by 18.7% to over $553 million. Belarus' imports from Kazakhstan included crude aluminium, copper scrap, conveyer belts, bearings, trucks, oil products, electric accumulators, phosphor salt, wheat.

In January-July 2012 Belarus' exports to Kazakhstan exceeded $479 million, up 27.3% over the same months last year. The exports grew due to an increase in supplies of threshing equipment, frozen beef, oil products, tractors and tractive units, milk whey, special-purpose vehicles.

Last year Belarus' FDI in the Kazakhstani economy totaled $72.8 million, Kazakhstan's FDI in Belarus - $0.4 million. In 2012 Kazakhstan is investing in the upgrading of the Chashniki PMK Meliovodkhoz, developemnt of the raw material base of the Gorodeya Sugary.

The implementation of 13 joint Belarus-Kazakhstan projects is underway. Seven of them are included into the state programs of Kazakhstan. Among them is a project to assemble Kuzlitmash multifunctional tillage combines, and a joint cardan production at Kardanval, Shymkent.

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