Embassy of Kazakhstan to Saudi Arabia in cooperation with the Ministry of Trade and Integration of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the company JSC "Qaztrade" and Riyadh Chamber of Commerce and Industry hosted Kazakh-Saudi business forum within the framework of Kazakhstan's trade mission, El.kz cites MFA.
The event was attended by Berik Aryn, the Ambassador of Kazakhstan to Saudi Arabia, Kairat Torebaev, the Vice-Minister of Trade and Integration of the Republic of Kazakhstan, as well as managers and representatives of more than 30 Kazakh companies, such as Qaztrade, Merke-et combines LLP, Advanced Business Technologies. LLP, Shathabar IE, SH Group Partners LLP, Kaiyp-Ata LLP, AiMap LLP, ENEGIX LLP, etc.
The Saudi side was represented by Naif Al-Rajhi, the Vice Chairman of Board of Directors in the Riyadh Chamber, representatives of the Ministry of Commerce, the Ministry of Investment, the General Authority of Foreign Trade (GAFT), as well as more than 40 heads and representatives of various Saudi and Arab companies, including such large companies, as “Alpha Horizons Company”, “Arube”, “Commercial Lamb Butchery”, “Quality E-Business inc”, etc.
In his welcoming speech, Ambassador Berik Aryn noted the positive dynamics of development of cooperation between Kazakhstan and Saudi Arabia in the trade, economic and investment spheres. In particular, Berik Aryn pointed out that the measures taken by the governments of the two countries, such as facilitating the visa regime, launching direct regular flights, expanding the lists of export companies, etc., allowed to significantly increase the volume of bilateral trade and the number of mutual tourist trips.
In his turn, Kairat Torebaev briefed on the trade and economic potential of Kazakhstan and the ongoing work to expand the Kazakh production. In this context, he noted that Kazakh producers can supply the market of Saudi Arabia, the largest country in the GCC, with domestic products of 75 items. According to him, enterprises in the metallurgical and food industries, in particular, meat products, honey, flour and confectionery, have great export potential.
Besides, Naif Al-Rajhi noted that Kazakhstan is an important partner for Saudi Arabia and fully supported the proposals of the Kazakh side to intensify bilateral cooperation and assured that he would make all necessary efforts to expand existing and establish new business contacts between two countries.
Following the business forum, the parties organized B2B Networking, where business community of two countries had practical negotiations. As a result of the event, 4 memorandums were signed between Kazakh and Saudi companies in the spheres of agribusiness, IT and communication technologies for the amount of 18.4 million dollars.
In general, the Saudi participants highly appreciated the organization of the business forum, where they got essential information about Kazakhstan and its trade, economic and investment opportunities.
As part of the Kazakh trade mission, Kairat Torebaev held separate meetings with Mohammad Alabduljabar, the Acting Governor of General Authority of Foreign Trade (GAFT), Naif Al-Rajhi, the Vice Chairman of Board of Directors in the Riyadh Chamber, Mohammed Yusuf Al-Nagi, the Chairman of Board of Directors in the Jeddah Chamber. During these meetings, the parties discussed the issues of activating of bilateral cooperation in trade, economic and investment spheres.
The trade turnover between Kazakhstan and Saudi Arabia for 8 months. 2023 amounted to more than 13 million US dollars, which is 71.8% higher than in the same period of the previous year, including exports from the Republic of Kazakhstan to KSA increased by 2 times and amounted to 7.2 million US dollars.