On May 25-28, 2021, the delegation led by the Acting RA Minister of Economy Vahan Kerobyan was in the capital of the Republic of Kazakhstan Nur-Sultan to participate in the 8th meeting of the Armenian-Kazakh intergovernmental joint commission on economic cooperation.

The co-chairs of the 8th meeting of the Armenian-Kazakh intergovernmental commission were, from the Armenian side, the Acting RA Minister of Economy Vahan Kerobyan, and, from the Kazakh side, the Minister of Trade and Integration of Kazakhstan Bakhit Sultanov.

A wide range of issues related to the Armenian-Kazakh trade and economic cooperation were discussed during the meeting, including the prospects of developing cooperation in the spheres of industry, high technologies, agriculture, tourism, production of canned fruits and vegetables, scientific and technical activities, and transport, and ways of realization. As a result of the discussion, decisions were made and assignments were given, which will contribute to strengthening and deepening of trade and economic cooperation between the two countries.

Bakhit Sultanov noted that Kazakh companies have expressed readiness to increase the export nomenclature by $230.9 million to supply 50 titles of processed goods in various sectors: petrol and chemicals - $138.8 million, metallurgy - $23.1 million, food processing - $36.4 million, etc.

“Armenia’s membership in the Eurasian Economic Union has already given us the opportunity to triple the volume of mutual trade in the period from 2015 to 2020, increasing it from $5 million to $15 million. The Coronavirus crisis did not prevent us from increasing the trade turnover between our countries by 30.8% by the end of 2020 ($15 million in 2020, $11.5 million in 2019). We have increased exports to Armenia by 66% ($7.3 million). In turn, imports increased by 8.8% ($7.7 million)”, said Bakhit Sultanov.

During the meeting, the possibilities of implementing joint programs in the field of e-commerce were touched upon. “Due to the COV1D-19 epidemic, digitalization is rapidly developing all over the world, it has now become the driving force of economies and an integral part of development. Taking into account the restrictions imposed by the pandemic, I consider it important to intensify cooperation between the two countries in the field of e-commerce”, Vahan Kerobyan stressed during the meeting.

As a result of the discussion, the parties agreed to cooperate in the fields of evaluation of compliance in electronic accreditation and protection of consumer rights.

One of the issues discussed at the 8th meeting of the Intergovernmental Commission was cooperation between Armenian companies and “Khorgos” International Center for Border Cooperation, which will enable Armenian companies to enter not only the Chinese market, but also expand their export geography to Asian countries.

During the meeting, the sides discussed the possibilities of reopening direct flights from Armenia to Kazakhstan, as well as establishment by joint efforts of a wholesale logistics center, which will contribute to activation of trade between the two countries.

It is envisaged that by the end of 2025 the volume of Armenian investments in the economy of Kazakhstan will double.

At the end of the meeting, the protocol of the 8th meeting of the Armenian-Kazakh intergovernmental commission was signed, in which directions of further cooperation were defined by respective sectors.

Within the framework of the visit, the delegation led by Vahan Kerobyan had meetings with the Deputy Prime Minister of Kazakhstan Roman Sklyar, the Minister of Agriculture of the Republic of Kazakhstan Saparkhan Omarov, and the Chairman of the Board of the Kazakh National Investment Company “Kazakh Invest” Meirzhan Yusupov.

During the meeting with Roman Sklyar, in particular, importance was attributed to the opening of a direct flight between Armenia and Kazakhstan, the increase of trade turnover, as well as jointly with the Kazakh side establishment of a logistics center in the city of Astrakhan of the Russian Federation, which will facilitate the process of multimodal transportation of goods between Armenia and Kazakhstan.

During the meeting with Saparkhan Omarov, reference was made to bilateral cooperation in the field of agriculture. In particular, a number of issues related to intensive horticulture, winemaking, pig breeding, drip irrigation, establishment and use of a wholesale distribution center in agriculture were discussed.

During the meeting of Vahan Kerobyan and Meirzhan Yusupov, the parties presented their approaches and methods for attracting foreign investment. An agreement was reached to establish direct connection between the Armenian “Enterprise Armenia” Foundation and the Kazakh “KazakhInvest” organization.

For the period of May 25-28, 2021, the delegation of the Republic of Armenia in the Republic of Kazakhstan consisted of representatives of the RA Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Territorial Administration and Infrastructure, Economy, Education, Science, Culture, and Sports, and High-Tech Industry.