EU is largest trade partner of Kazakhstan, says EU Delegation head

For nine months of this year, the trade turnover between Kazakhstan and the European Union totalled at almost 14 billion € (US$33 million). The EU is both the largest trade partner of our country and the largest investor. It also accounts for almost 50 percent of the gross inflow of foreign direct investments. This was announced by the Head of the EU Delegation to Kazakhstan, Sven-Olov Carlsson. According to him, today Kazakhstan exports to European countries products of the oil and gas sector, minerals and food products. In turn, Europe supplies Kazakhstan with transport equipment, chemical products, plastic products, furniture and medicines.

“The trade turnover in services surpassed 2.2 billion euros (US$2.6 billion) last year, and there is certainly potential for further development. In terms of regional cooperation, we believe that it is very important to support and facilitate regional trade among the Central Asian countries. We are currently implementing and funding the ‘Ready4Trade’ program,” said Head of the EU Delegation to Kazakhstan Sven-Olov Carlsson.

The proposed initiative is funded and implemented by the European Union in cooperation with the International Trade Center. It aims at sustainable and comprehensive economic development of the Central Asian region by stimulating intraregional and international trade. The project operates in five countries: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.