By ASTANA. Oct 28 (Interfax) – Trade between Kazakhstan and the EU countries should have a more balanced structure, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said.
"Kazakhstan can offer more than 100 types of processed goods worth some $1.5 billion a year in industries such as machine-building, iron and steel production, food industry, and agriculture," Tokayev’s press service said at a meeting between the heads of the Central Asian states and the European Council president in Astana.
The Kazakh president said food security is a promising issue.
"As you know, we export more than five million tonnes of wheat annually, including to the EU countries. Our food export to the EU increased by 32% over the past year, exceeding $630 million. Therefore, Kazakhstan could continue supplying agriproducts and mineral fertilizers to the EU countries," the president said.
Tokayev also said green energy is a separate issue. "I believe we could also work together closely here," he said.
Trade-economic and investment interaction is one of the most important cooperation tracks, Tokayev said.
"In the past ten years, the European Union invested in the Central Asian states more than $120 billion, which is in actual fact 40% of the direct foreign investment in the region. Some 70% of this funding was sent to Kazakhstan," he said.
The trade volume between Kazakhstan and the EU countries reached almost $30 billion in the first eight months of this year, which is more than a 40% increase from last year. Some 3,000 companies with European capital are now successfully working in various sectors of the Kazakh economy.
In general, he said he is certain that cooperation between Kazakhstan and the European Union will continue.
