Azernews.Az

By Sabina Mammadli

The trade turnover between Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan for the first half of 2022 increased by 3.1 times, Kazakhstan's Ministry of Trade and Integration (MIT) reported.

According to the information, the trade turnover between the two countries for the first half of 2022 amounted to $194.1 million, which is 3.1 times higher than the same period in 2021.

The growth in exports to Azerbaijan is associated with an increase in the supply of wheat - 11.6 times, oil products - an increase of 2.7 times, electric railway locomotives - 6.4 times, rail - by $ 7.5 million, waste and scrap of ferrous metals - by $5.3 million, mineral fertilizers - by $3.4 million.

Similarly, Azerbaijan's Small and Medium Business Development Agency Chairman Orkhan Mammadov and General Director of QazTrade Trade Policy Development Center JSC Azamat Askaruly discussed holding joint events to develop cooperation and increase trade turnover between the business of Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan.

The ties between the two countries are rapidly evolving taking into account the current geopolitical situation.

Representative of Kazakhstan's Ministry of Industry and Infrastructure Development Zeinolla Akhmetzhanov stated that Azerbaijan is becoming a" new window on Europe" for the country, Day.az reports.

"It is through Baku that there will be an alternative route for oil produced in our republic, which for 30 years of independence remains the main source of income for the country's budget," Akhmetzhanov said.

The Trans-Caspian International Transport Route runs through China, Kazakhstan, the Caspian Sea, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and further to Turkiye and European countries. Despite the fact that transit through Russia is cheaper and faster, the Trans-Caspian route is still quite viable, Yerlan Absatov, General Director of the Union of Transport Workers of Kazakhstan KAZLOGISTICS said.

"If in 2017 we transported 500 containers along the Trans-Caspian route, by the end of 2021 their number has increased to 25,000. So there is a positive trend," Absatov said.

According to him, the capacity of container traffic through the South Caucasus is six million tons, and today the load has reached 95 percent.

"The growth of traffic is a clear signal for the expansion of the current capacity of the Trans-Caspian route," Absatov stressed.

Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan are marking the 30th anniversary of diplomatic ties in 2022. For over a third of a century, both states, regarded as locomotives of their regions, are making great strides in political, economic, cultural, and humanitarian spheres.

Azerbaijan today is a key trade and economic partner of Kazakhstan in the South Caucasus.

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Sabina Mammadli is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @SabinaMmdl

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