Kazakhstan and Afghanistan can boost agricultural turnover to up to $1bn, says Kazakh deputy minister

The Kazakh deputy minister highlighted the importance of bilateral cooperation in agriculture. According to him, the agricultural trade turnover between the countries stood at 567.5 million US dollars in 2023, with the Kazakhstani exports amounting to 547 million US dollars.

Flour and wheat account for over 80% of the total exports of Kazakhstan to Afghanistan. In its turn, Kazakhstan imports mineral waters, fruits and spices from Afghanistan. Deputy Minister Tasszhurekov pointed out that the countries can increase the mutual trade turnover to up to 1 billion US dollars through a close cooperation between their businesses.

In general, Kazakhstan is ready for cooperation and exchange of supplies of the most demanded types of fertilizers and other agricultural products. In particular, there is potential to increase exports of confectionery and flour products, vegetable oils as well as mineral fertilizers, agricultural machinery, technologies that are of interest to Afghanistan’s agricultural sector. On our part, we’re ready to import citrus fruits, dried fruits, pomegranate juice, spices, raw cotton and others from Afghanistan to meet the needs of the population, said Tasszhurekov.

It was noted that the export of Kazakhstani wheat to Afghanistan has declined over the past years, falling 53% in 2023 compared with last year and stood at a mere 69 thousand tons in eight months of this year. As the deputy minister highlighted Kazakhstan is eyeing to fix this situation, engaging its Beineu grain terminal to improve logistics and increase supplies.

In conclusion, the Kazakh deputy minister stressed the need for sharing experiences between the countries and noted that Kazakhstan stands ready to share its advanced technologies to increase crop yields in Afghanistan.

Earlier it was reported that the trade turnover between Kazakhstan and Afghanistan reached 330.7 million US dollars in 8 months of the present year.