Deputy minister: We want to see presence of Azerbaijani companies in FEZ of Kazakhstan

Deputy Minister of Trade and Integration of Kazakhstan Kairat Torebayev has arrived in Baku to participate in the trade and economic mission of Kazakh producers. In an interview with Report, he spoke about the prospects for economic cooperation between Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan, as well as the potential of the Middle Corridor.

We present this interview to our readers:

- In 2021, you took part in the opening ceremony of the Trade House of Azerbaijan in Kazakhstan. Did that make possible to increase trade between our countries? How many enterprises with Azerbaijani capital are there in Kazakhstan at present, and is their number growing?

- Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan are important trading partners. We do not compete on a wide range of issues, but complement each other. At the same time, the volume of trade is not very large, it does not correspond to our potential. I participated in the opening of a trading house of Azerbaijan in Kazakhstan. And for me, this was a significant event, because I am always glad to take steps to bring our countries closer in the field of trade, culture, etc.

The trading house has great prospects, because the turnover is always associated with the awareness of the buyer, and the vacuum that, unfortunately, has formed in Kazakhstan in relation to knowledge about the dynamically developing Azerbaijani business, is a barrier and must be overcome. Yesterday I met with representatives of Azerbaijani companies, got acquainted with their developments in petrochemistry, banking, and was pleasantly surprised. Such missions that we carry out, as well as the opening of a trading house, are aimed at developing bilateral trade. And I think that it is necessary to expand the network of trading houses. We have a trading house of Azerbaijan in Astana, as well as a certain representative office in Aktau. I would advise the Azerbaijani side to expand its presence in Almaty, because it is, after all, the business capital of Kazakhstan.

- What about the measures taken to attract Azerbaijani investors to Kazakhstan? What benefits and privileges does Kazakhstan offer to foreign investors, given the presence of free economic zones in Kazakhstan?

- Free economic zones (FEZs) are not the only advantage of Kazakhstan. Currently, more than 1,024 companies in Kazakhstan operate with Azerbaijani capital. And this number will only grow.

We have recently launched a free economic zone for Turkic-speaking states, and we definitely would like to see the presence of Azerbaijan in our free economic zones. In addition, we have such investment contracts that provide certain investment subsidies, incentives for the withdrawal of capital, for attracting foreign labor, and most importantly, tax exemption depending on the field of activity. We are interested in such areas as mechanical engineering, electronics, chemistry, petrochemistry and others, which would develop the industry of Kazakhstan as a whole.

- The Middle Corridor is one of the important routes in the transportation of goods from east to west. How would you assess the prospects for the development of cooperation within this route?

- The Middle Corridor is important for Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan. I think that it is necessary to make joint efforts to develop this route. We have seen significant growth in recent times. For example, container traffic along the Middle Corridor increased by 33% last year. Containerization would increase the use of this corridor many times over. Now we have run into certain difficulties related to infrastructure, somewhere there are problems with the legislative norm, somewhere we cannot come to a common denominator on tariff setting issues. When we resolve these issues, the potential of the Middle Corridor will increase many times over. I believe that the prospects for the development of this corridor are very high, and we need to make joint efforts to develop this route. The demand for the Middle Corridor will grow.

- What indicators are targeted in 2023 in mutual investments and trade? What new areas of trade and economic cooperation will contribute to their growth?

- The main task of today's trade and economic mission is to unlock the potential of Kazakhstan's exports. In general, we see great prospects for increasing trade. This is the third such mission in the last five years. And every year we sign contracts. This year we will sign contracts for at least $30 million. In reality, this is a small amount. We conducted a desk analysis within the ministry and we see that Kazakhstan can literally increase exports to Azerbaijan of about 125 types of processed products from tomorrow, which is more than $200 million. I think that the prospects for the development of cooperation with Azerbaijan are great. We just need to fill the information vacuum between our countries and provide preferential and favorable conditions for our entrepreneurs so that they can build their business.