Prime Minister of the Republic of Kazakhstan Olzhas Bektenov held a meeting with a delegation from the Islamic Republic of Iran, led by the Minister of Agricultural Jihad, Gholamreza Nouri Ghezeljeh, primeminister.kz reports.
The meeting was attended by Kazakhstan’s Minister of Agriculture Aidarbek Saparov, Minister of Trade and Integration Arman Shakkaliev, Akim of the Mangystau Region Nurdaulet Kilybay, and others.
The discussion focused on the outcomes of the 20th session of the Kazakhstan-Iran Intergovernmental Commission on Trade-Economic, Scientific-Technical, and Cultural Cooperation, and on the implementation of agreements reached at the presidential level regarding increased bilateral trade.
The parties reviewed the plans of relevant agencies for further developing bilateral cooperation in agriculture, especially boosting trade in agricultural products and supporting the development of transit and logistics infrastructure.
Kazakhstan aims to increase grain exports to 2 million tonnes of wheat and 1 million tonnes of barley annually. In the first four months of the current year, Kazakhstan’s agri-food exports tripled, reaching $116 million.
The Iranian side, in turn, expressed interest in exchanging expertise in livestock and poultry farming.
A promising area is the implementation of joint projects for high value-added agricultural product processing. Examples include the launch of safflower oil production facilities in Kazakhstan by Kaz-Ir Agro and the French fry production plant by Solico Group. These were cited during discussions on investment cooperation development.
During talks on transport and logistics collaboration, both sides expressed a shared interest in boosting the Caspian Sea’s transit capacity and expanding the potential of the North-South transport corridor. Over the first five months of this year, cargo volumes transported via this corridor through Kazakhstan rose by 74%, reaching 1.5 million tonnes.
As a result of the meeting, it was noted that the relevant government agencies of both countries have established a working group to swiftly implement plans to enhance trade and economic cooperation.
Reference: In 2024, trade turnover between Kazakhstan and Iran exceeded $340 million. In the first four months of the current year, this figure rose by 78.3% to $173.5 million.
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