Kazakhstan Official Trade and Economic Mission Meeting Held at Istanbul's Ritz Carlton Hotel

An Official Trade and Economic Mission Meeting was held on Wednesday, 31 July at the Istanbul Ritz Carlton Hotel, organized by the Ministry of Industry and Infrastructure Development of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Kazakhstan International Chamber of Commerce, and the National Chamber of Entrepreneurs of the Republic of Kazakhstan "ATAMEKEN" to develop bilateral economic and commercial cooperation between Kazakhstan and Turkey. The official business delegation included producers of meat, mining equipment, home textiles, accumulators, LED lighting, wheat, flour, chemical substances, tanning and dyeing furs, grains and oilseeds, cereals, fodder crops, animal hide processing, dried licorice root extract, outdoor furniture, perfumery and cosmetics products, and canned and mixed agricultural products.

Our Objective is to Ensure the Signing of Foreign Trade Agreements

Ablay Myrzakhmetov, Chairman of the Board of the National Chamber of Entrepreneurs (ATAMEKEN) of the Republic of Kazakhstan, noted that since the first years of independence of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Turkey has been one of the most important economic partners, that the mandatory membership system was established at ATAMEKEN with the extensive experience of the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey (TOBB), and that thanks to TOBB's experience ATAMEKEN began operating rapidly, and continued his remarks as follows: "Turkey ranks 9th with a 2.5% share of Kazakhstan's turnover. In 2018, trade volume between the two countries reached USD 1.9 billion. The main products exported from Kazakhstan to Turkey and constituting 88.8% of exports are crude oil, copper and cathode, copper, raw aluminum, natural gas, and wheat. Industrial goods (excluding petroleum and petroleum products) account for 53.6% of exports from Kazakhstan to Turkey and USD 666.0 million. Other petroleum products account for 37.3% and USD 463.3 million, while agricultural products account for 9.1% or USD 112.8 million. The primary objective of today's meeting is to create direct contact among entrepreneurs and to ensure the signing of foreign trade agreements." Recalling that China is the world's third-largest food importer with USD 115 billion annual food imports, Myrzakhmetov stated: "Turkey and Kazakhstan can enter the Chinese market by acting together. As Kazakhstan, we want to move forward together with Turkey on this point. Additionally, Turkey can take its place in the Russian and consequently the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) market in which we operate. This is a great opportunity."

Kazakhstan is the Heart of the Turkish-Eurasian Geography

Bahri Can Çalıcıoğlu, Advisor to the President of the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey (TOBB), emphasized in his remarks that Kazakhstan is the heart of Turkish-Eurasian geography and stated: "Kazakhstan is our ancestral homeland and we are proud of the developments achieved under the leadership of Founding State President Nursultan Nazarbayev. His visionary leadership is a great fortune for both Kazakhstan and our region and the Turkish world. As a result of the promise we made 13 years ago on 17 November 2006, we, the TOBB as the umbrella organization of the Turkish private sector, together with ATAMEKEN transformed the chamber system into the most successful Chamber system in the region. Economic and production development can only occur through private sector development, and a strong private sector requires a strong chamber system. In this context, we continue to provide support as TOBB. Specifically, together with ATAMEKEN we established the Turkish-Kazakh Chamber of Commerce and Industry Forum (Joint Chamber). This afternoon we will hold the first meeting of our Joint Chamber," he said.