XXI meeting of Kazakh-Russian Intergovernmental Commission held in Nur-Sultan

The XXI meeting of the Intergovernmental Commission on Cooperation between the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Russian Federation was held Oct. 15 in Nur-Sultan. The First Deputy Prime Minister – Minister of Finance of Kazakhstan Alikhan Smailov was a co-chair from the Kazakh side, and the First Deputy Prime Minister – Minister of Finance of Russia Anton Siluanov co-chaired from the Russian side.

The parties discussed a wide range of issues of interaction in the field of trade and economic cooperation, the fuel and energy complex, the peaceful use of atomic energy, industry, transport, agriculture, health, environmental protection, education and science, social and labor relations, information technology, culture, tourism, the development of inter-regional and cross-border cooperation, as well as the interaction of business circles of the two countries.

Kazakhstan and Russia have traditionally a high level of bilateral interaction across the entire spectrum of interstate ties, backed up by the intensity of meetings both at the level of heads of state and at other levels.

Trade and economic cooperation is systematically developing. Russia remains the main trading partner of Kazakhstan (19.5% in the foreign trade turnover of Kazakhstan).

In 2018, the volume of mutual trade between the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Russian Federation amounted to $18.5 billion, which is 13.1% higher than in 2017 ($16.4 billion). According to the results of 8 months of 2019, the volume of mutual trade between our countries increased by 0.8% and amounted to $12.2 billion (8 months of 2018 — $12.1 billion).

During the meeting, Alikhan Smailov focused on developing the transit potential of the Republic of Kazakhstan, in particular, the large-scale project “Western Europe – Western China” will soon be completed.

“Over the past years, work has been ongoing to complete the large-scale automobile project ‘Western Europe – Western China.’ I am sure that with the completion of work, our countries will be able to fully realize the transit potential,” said Alikhan Smailov.

The Commission recommended to hold a regular meeting of the Kazakh-Russian Business Council in 2020 as part of the Forum for Interregional Cooperation between Kazakhstan and Russia with the participation of the heads of state.

We add that Nov. 6-7, 2019, in Omsk (the Russian Federation), the XVI Forum of Interregional Cooperation of Kazakhstan and Russia will be held with the participation of the heads of state on the topic “Important Issues of the Development of Cross-Border Cooperation.”

It was also recommended to pay special attention to the exchange of experience in organizing work on the interaction of the chambers with business, the development of cooperation at the regional level, the strengthening of cooperative ties between Kazakhstan and Russia, including for entering third-country markets.

The next XXII meeting of the Intergovernmental Commission will be held in 2020 in the Russian Federation

Stay updated about the events of the Prime Minister and the Government of Kazakhstan - subscribe to the official Telegram channel

Subscribe