MINSK, 22 July (BelTA) – Belarusian export to Kazakhstan features more than 650 commodity items, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Belarus to Kazakhstan Pavel Utyupin told journalists ahead of a meeting between representatives of Belarusian embassies and companies in Minsk on 22 July, BelTA has learned.
“Kazakhstan is a traditional partner of Belarus. They know well our products in terms of assortment and quality, and the foreign trade statistics confirms the interest of Kazakhstan in cooperation with Belarus. Despite the fact that last year was difficult, that a state of emergency was in force in Kazakhstan from March to May, actually a lockdown, the trade and export declined by as little as 2.4% last year," the diplomat said.
According to him, this year the situation has improved. "It is clear that anti-COVID measures in both Belarus and Kazakhstan still have their impact. Yet the lifting of certain restrictions has reinvigorated increased business contacts between the two countries and also exports. We do not have a monoproduct that would dominate the export, trade is quite diversified. We sell more than 650 commodity items to Kazakhstan. Belarusian food producers hold an approximately 30% market share there. Our food products are in demand, they are recognized for their quality. Belarusian economic entities maintain a strong presence in the market of Kazakhstan, open new outlets, and find new partners, all of which contributes to trade,” Ambassador Pavel Utyupin noted.
Another promising cooperation is mechanical engineering products, which account for around 38% of Belarus' export to Kazakhstan, the ambassador believes. “We are using a tested strategy. Kazakhstan has a strong raw materials industry. The two countries have many areas of common interest in this sector. We improve output capacities of existing assembly facilities, primarily the ones making tractors. We also seek to increase the level of localization that will benefit both Belarus and Kazakhstan and earn certain benefits and state support, which will help them compete with analogous imports. We also want to reduce transportation costs,” the ambassador said.
Belarus and Kazakhstan are also considering such new cooperation avenues, as production of road construction machinery and firefighting equipment that are in demand in the market of Kazakhstan.
