Prime Minister of the Republic of Kazakhstan Alikhan Smailov held bilateral talks with Prime Minister of the Republic of Belarus Roman Golovchenko as part of a meeting of the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council.

The parties discussed a number of topical issues of further bilateral cooperation, including trade and economic cooperation, the development of industrial cooperation, the agro-industrial complex, and the construction industry.

“Our countries have established an intensive and trusting dialogue, which contributes to effective interaction in all areas. The practical foundation of Kazakh-Belarusian relations is trade and economic ties,” said Smailov.

At the end of 2021, the growth of bilateral trade amounted to 15.7%.

As the Prime Minister of the Republic of Kazakhstan emphasized, these indicators do not yet fully reflect the existing potential, it is necessary to make joint efforts to ensure sustainable growth in mutual trade.

One of the priority areas of cooperation is the agro-industrial complex. It is important to jointly increase the volume of mutual trade in agricultural products. The Kazakh side is ready to create the most favorable conditions for joint work.

In addition, one of the key areas of industrial cooperation between Kazakhstan and Belarus is mechanical engineering. Taking into account the possibilities, the Kazakh side is interested in the maximum localization of production.

In turn, the Prime Minister of the Republic of Belarus Golovchenko noted that during the entire period of cooperation with Kazakhstan there have never been critical moments.

“We have always looked for and found solutions even in the most difficult issues, we have no contradictions, closed topics, we closely cooperate and share common principles. We are important trade and economic partners. Thus, according to the results of 2021, the trade turnover between our countries for the first time exceeded one billion. This milestone was reached thanks to the hard work in business circles and the Governments of the two countries, which created all the necessary conditions for this,” Golovchenko said.