“Minsk attaches great importance to the development of bilateral relations with Kazakhstan. Close cooperation with Nur-Sultan (Astana back then) began in 2000 when the agreement on cooperation in trade, economy, science, and humanitarian affairs was signed,” said Anatoly Sivak. “We are especially interested in using the best practices of the partners for the development of our city. Your organizational and legal experience is interesting. Ties that we have today need to be further developed. Our meeting should take the cooperation onto a new level, regular exchange of the best approaches in various areas of urban governance, public utilities and housing stock maintenance, experience in business promotion, with a view to introducing such practices for the benefit of our cities.”
Altay Kulginov agreed that the potential of mutual contacts is big. He named Minsk's most interesting practices for Nur-Sultan. They cover urban traffic and housing construction. Strengthening of economic relations will, of course, promote development of joint companies and implementation of projects. In January-September 2019, Kazakhstan ranked sixth in Minsk's export of goods (2.3%). Minsk has 82 Kazakhstan-funded companies.
Of them 22 are joint ventures and 60 foreign firms. In January-September 2019, Kazakhstan injected more than $2.4 FDI in Minsk. In January-September 2019, mutual trade went up by 33% year-on-year (from $179.4 million to $238.6 million). Foreign trade surplus increased by 42.1%. Minsk companies sell more than 400 commodity items to Kazakhstan. In January-September 2019, the trade in services was up 11.5% year-on-year reaching $66.8 million from $59.9 million. Exports soared by 29.3%, imports contracted by 18.1%. Minsk Mayor Anatoly Sivak believes that these figures can be higher and the potential is still hugely untapped. He expressed hope that cooperation with Nur-Sultan would promote it further and contribute to an increase in the number of contacts in different fields of activity.
Written by belta.by
