As of 23 March 2023, 53 investment projects with the participation of Kazakhstani companies have been registered in Turkmenistan, the Neutral Turkmenistan newspaper reports.
16 joint ventures in various sectors of the economy with the participation of Turkmen capital operate in Kazakhstan’s Mangystau region bordering the Balkan province of Turkmenistan.
According to the newspaper, the heads of the two states set a goal to bring the mutual trade between Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan to US $ 1 billion in the foreseeable future.
The industry, agro-industrial complex and transport infrastructure form the basis for the growth of bilateral trade.
The main export items to Kazakhstan are cotton processing products, textiles, ready-made knitwear, other sewing products, chemical fiber, mineral fertilizers. Turkmen businessmen supply vegetables, detergents.
Wheat flour, furniture, technological and electronic equipment and other goods are imported from Kazakhstan to Turkmenistan.
Energy and transport and communication projects are of strategic importance in the Turkmen-Kazakh relations.
Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan possess large reserves of hydrocarbon raw materials, but do not have direct access to world markets. Under these conditions, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan are both interested in each other as transit states for the export of their energy resources to international markets. An example is the Turkmenistan-China gas pipeline.
A concrete result of effective cooperation in the transport sector is the constructed Kazakhstan–Turkmenistan–Iran railway, which has become the most important link of the international North–South transit corridor.
On 15 May 2023, Astana hosted the 12th meeting of the Intergovernmental Commission on Economic, Scientific, Technical and Cultural Cooperation, which was co-chaired by Deputy Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers of Turkmenistan Batry Atdayev and Deputy Prime Minister of Kazakhstan Roman Sklyar, the source recalls.
The topics on the agenda covered cooperation in oil and gas production, transportation, finance, agriculture and water management, culture and tourism, education, and science. Following the meeting, the parties signed a Protocol. ///nCa, 22 May 2023