The Kazakhstani-Armenian business forum, organized by the Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs of Armenia and the Diplomatic Club “Astana”, was held in Yerevan on 27-31 March 2024. The forum fostered Business-to-Business (B2B) negotiations between representatives from various sectors – logistics, industry, IT, and trade.
During the business forum, Kaiyrbolat Sakhmetov, President of the Diplomatic Club “Astana”, proposed utilizing the Iran-Turkmenistan-Kazakhstan transport corridor for Armenian goods.
“Since you border Iran, I think this proposal may be interesting. Diesel fuel is cheap in Iran and Turkmenistan. We border Turkmenistan and Iran — we are connected to by rail,” he said.
According to him, Armenia can utilize Iranian or Turkmen trucks or railways to deliver goods to a dry port on the Turkmenistan border for onward transport by train to any destination in Kazakhstan, other Central Asian countries, and even China.
Over the years since the establishment of diplomatic relations, Kazakhstan and Armenia have built strong ties of friendship and mutually beneficial cooperation. About 25,000 Armenians live in Kazakhstan, and there are 14 cultural Armenian schools. 435 companies with Armenian capital operate in Kazakhstan. Similarly, Armenia hosts over 100 Kazakhstan-capitalized companies.
The trade turnover between the countries has been steadily growing in recent years, only in 2023 mutual trade increased by 23%, reaching US $ 53 million.
Yet, significant potential remains. Armenia is eager to export more pharmaceutical and textile products, building materials, household chemicals, food items (fish, cheese, canned/frozen produce, mineral water, flowers), and more to Kazakhstan.
The establishment of direct B2B contacts will contribute to the realization of the trade and economic potential of the two countries.
In this context, meetings with representatives of the National Committee of Armenia of the International Chamber of Commerce and the Mantashyants International Business Club became important points of the business mission program. ///nCa, 1 April 2024 (in cooperation with the Diplomatic Club “Astana”)