The 12th meeting of the Joint Intergovernmental Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific, Technical and Cultural Cooperation between Kazakhstan and Pakistan was held in Astana on December 22.
Co-chaired by the Vice Minister of Trade and Integration of Kazakhstan Kairat Torebayev and the First Deputy Minister of Economic Affairs of Pakistan Kazim Niaz, the event was attended by representatives of the ministries and business communities of the two countries.
“Kazakhstan views Pakistan as an important and promising trading partner and attaches special importance to expanding trade and economic cooperation. At the same time, the current level of trade between our countries does not correspond to its potential. We are interested in increasing exports and are ready to additionally supply 40 types of processed goods from various sectors of the economy worth $21.5 million to the Pakistani market,” said the Vice Minister of Trade and Integration of Kazakhstan.
According to Torebayev, trade turnover in the agricultural sector showed good prospects; over 10 months of this year, trade volume increased by 18% compared to last year, exceeding $17 million.
Kazim Niaz noted that the development of trade and economic relations and the establishment of transit routes and logistics are of priority importance for the two countries. Thus, in order to develop transport logistics, QazTrade and the Pakistani logistics company National Logistics Cell agreed to sign an agreement on cooperation by organizing logistics services and providing special tariff conditions.
“The holding of the first meeting of the Kazakh-Pakistani Business Council in Astana in July this year showed that further cooperation will strengthen the growth of prosperity of the two countries,” said Kazim Niaz.
