HomeKazakhstanKazakhstan and Egypt Review Development of Economic Cooperation

Kazakhstan and Egypt Review Development of Economic Cooperation

Cairo, 7 February 2021 – At the invitation of the Egyptian side, on 5-7 February 2021, a Kazakh-Egyptian trade and investment business forum was held in Egypt. About 300 people attended the event.

The Kazakh delegation led by Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Almas Aidarov included more than 60 companies from 13 regions of the country, as well as the representatives of state bodies and government-related institutions. From the Egyptian side, over 200 representatives of the business community, as well as Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Tariq al-Washimi, Governor of South Sinai Province Khaled Fuda, Head of the Federation of Egyptian Chambers of Commerce Ibrahim al-Arabi, attended the forum.

For reference: On March 6, 2019, a Kazakh-Egyptian business forum was held in Nur-Sultan. Over 100 business representatives from the two countries participated in the event.

According to Kazakhstan’s Ambassador Kairat Lama Sharif, both sides intend to build up cooperation in all areas of interaction to increase further the level of trade, economic and investment ties between the two countries.

“Kazakhstan considers Egypt as the “gateway” to Africa and is ready to promote exports, including with the assistance of the Kazakh-Egyptian Business Council and the Intergovernmental Commission on Trade and Economic Cooperation. An additional impetus to increase the export of Kazakh products will be given by the signing of the Free Trade Agreement between the Eurasian Economic Union member states and Egypt, which will open access to the Egyptian market with a population of over 100 million people,” – he said.

According to the speakers at the forum, the recent rise in the price of products and the slowdown of trade between the two countries adds to the geographical distance between the two states. However, as noted by Kazakhstan’s Vice Minister of Trade and Integration Kairat Torebayev, despite this, the government sees the potential for quadrupling the bilateral trade turnover.

“In this context, Kazakh companies can offer quality goods worth about $ 300 million. In order to enhance food security, Egyptian companies can locate their export-oriented production facilities in Kazakhstan. For this direction, concessional lending for such projects, insurance of export contracts, reimbursement of costs for the transportation of goods and service support are provided. In addition, in the near future, Kazakhstan will subsidize the interest rate for foreign buyers of domestic products at the CIRR level. In other words, at the interest rate set by the OECD on a monthly basis,” – he said.

The intensification of work in this direction is associated with the upcoming first official visit of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Egypt to Kazakhstan and the holding of regular political and consular consultations between the two countries, as Deputy Foreign Minister al-Wasimi noted in his speech.

During the event, an exhibition «Made in Kazakhstan» was organized, where commodities of Kazakh manufacturers were presented, including companies that are already exporting to the African continent. In addition, B2B negotiations were held between Kazakh and Egyptian companies.

As a result of the event, a number of economic documents were signed. Thus, Kazakh and Egyptian companies have agreed to supply 1 million bottles of bottled water to the Egyptian market with the prospect of increasing supply by up to 3 million, the production of pharmaceuticals based on a Kazakh enterprise, and the acquisition of a copper deposit in Kazakhstan.

This forum contributed to the formation of interest among Egyptian businesses in Kazakh goods of the non-primary sector, ensured the establishment of direct contacts between domestic producers and potential Egyptian buyers and investors, the exchange of information on the quality and price indicators of products. It was decided to hold regular trade missions and meetings between the two countries.

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