25/12/2023: Trade turnover between Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan in 2023 is expected to exceed $5 billion.

Trade turnover between Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan in 2023 is expected to exceed $5 billion. The neighboring countries are actively working to increase mutual trade to $10 billion. The Year of 2023 was yet another year of consistent expansion of comprehensive trade, economic and investment cooperation between Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. On May 5 of 2023, the 20th session of the Intergovernmental Commission on Bilateral Cooperation was held in Tashkent, as well as bilateral talks between Prime Ministers of Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, A. Aripov and A. Smailov, respectively. On November 9 2023, on the sidelines of the 16th summit of the Economic Cooperation Organization in Tashkent, an agreement was signed between the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Government of the Republic of Uzbekistan on Regulating the Activities of the International Center for Industrial Cooperation "Central Asia". The Center will be built in the area of international cooperation between border checkpoints of the Uzbek “Gulistan” and the Kazakh “Atameken”. During the year, an active work also continued in the trade, economic and investment spheres between various government structures of the two countries, headed by deputy prime ministers, heads of ministries, departments and large state-owned companies. As a result of the consistent and fruitful cooperation of governments of the two countries, in the nine months of 2023 mutual trade turnover amounted to $3.3 billion. At the end of this year, this figure is expected to exceed $5 billion. Export from Kazakhstan amounted to $ 2.3 billion. Among the goods exported by Kazakhstan are wheat, semi-finished steel products, flour, sunflower oil, various ores and concentrates from them, meat and meat products. Import from Uzbekistan to Kazakhstan in January-September 2023 increased by 4% - to $957.8 million. The main items of Uzbek export are car bodies, spark-ignition internal combustion engines, auto parts, fruits, vegetables and textiles, refrigerators and freezers. It should be especially noted that both countries are actively working to increase mutual trade volumes to $10 billion in the coming years. In this regard, special attention should be paid to the growth rate of Uzbekistan’s foreign trade with its neighbors in Central Asia in 2022. Thus, in January-December 2022, the volume of foreign trade of the Republic of Uzbekistan with Central Asian countries increased by 17.2% and reached $7.5 billion. Uzbekistan’s export amounted to $3.1 billion (an increase of 15.4%), import - $4.4 billion (an increase of 18.6%). In the context of Central Asian countries, Uzbekistan’s foreign trade indicators last year were: – with Kazakhstan – $4.6 billion (an increase of 17.9%), of which export amounted to $1.4 billion, import – $3.2 billion; - With Kyrgyzstan - $1.3 billion (an increase of 32.1%), of which export amounted to $979.3 million, import - $280.7 million; – with Turkmenistan – $926.3 million (an increase of 2.7%, export – $194.8 million, import – $731.5 million; - With Tajikistan - $674.4 million (an increase of 11.4%), export - $519.9 million, import - $154.5 million. Largest share of trade with regional states fall to Kazakhstan, which accounted for 62 % of Uzbekistan’s trade turnover with Central Asian countries in 2022. This is followed by other neighboring states: Kyrgyzstan - 17%, Turkmenistan - 12% and Tajikistan - 9%.