Belarus-Kazakh Economic Forum to take place in Almaty in June

The Belarusian-Kazakh Economic Forum will take place in Almaty in early June. The event is organized by the Chambers of Commerce and Industry of the two countries, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Kazakhstan to Belarus Anatoly Smirnov said as he met with the businessmen of the two countries on April 22.

The head of the diplomatic mission believes that the forum will help considerably increase the trade and economic cooperation between the two countries. He stressed that the trade between Belarus and Kazakhstan had been at the level of $513-537 million for the last three years and noted that it is quite low given the present mutual potential.

“We are very much aware of Belarus’ high production, transit and intellectual potential. We should think what to do to make the potential work for expanding the trade and economic cooperation between our states,” the Ambassador of Kazakhstan said.

According to him, the two sides have a good basis for mutually beneficial relations. First of all it concerns the development of a robust treaty-legal base. It is also important that Belarus and Kazakhstan hold annual sessions highlighting trade and economic cooperation. The next session will take place in Brest in June.

Anatoly Smirnov said that one of the factors slowing down the bilateral cooperation is the absence of the Kazakh business in Belarus. The Kazakh-Russian relations with the regional cooperation accounting for 70% were cited as a good example of the interregional collaboration.

The diplomat said that the visits of the delegations of businessmen from West and East Kazakhstan to Belarus were the most fruitful. They had reached agreements on setting up joint ventures within several days of staying in Belarus.

According to Anatoly Smirnov, Kazakhstan is keen on cooperation with Belarus in the engineering, light, forestry and wood-working industries, production of construction materials and freight transportation.