08/01/2024: Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan plan to create an online trading platform based on UzKazTrade

For the purpose of removing trade barriers, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan will create a joint working group. The Minister of Investment, Industry and Trade of Uzbekistan Laziz Kudratov and the Minister of Trade and Integration of Kazakhstan Arman Shakkaliev, who visited the country, agreed on this on January 5. The ministers discussed the implementation of the road map for the implementation of investment agreements and trade contracts signed during the visit of President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev to Uzbekistan. The parties also reviewed the implementation of current projects and prospects for the further development of trade and economic relations and industrial cooperation between the two countries. Over the past seven years, bilateral trade has grown almost 2.5 times, from $1.9 billion in 2016 to $4.6 billion in 2023. The parties also agreed on a number of measures to increase trade turnover to $10 billion in the coming years. On the basis of a joint Foreign trade company UzKazTrade, it is planned to create an online trading platform for selling a wide range of goods in the markets of both countries. In addition, the ministers agreed to take measures to speed up the creation of the International Center for Industrial Cooperation “Central Asia”. Today, work is underway to create and connect infrastructure to it. The facility will be located near the Atameken (Kazakhstan) and Gulistan (Uzbekistan) checkpoints and will include manufacturing sites, warehouses for storage of goods and equipment, as well as transport infrastructure. This will speed up the delivery of goods and reduce logistics costs. The center will stimulate the creation of new industries, jobs, processing of agricultural and industrial products, as well as provide logistics services for the further transportation of goods. In March 2023, a joint company UzKazTrade was created between JSC Uztrade and JSC QazTrade to supply fruits and vegetables from Uzbekistan and flour from Kazakhstan. UzKazTrade plans to wholesale fruits and vegetables from Uzbekistan to Kazakhstan.