Canada-Kazakhstan trade turnover set to reach $1B – ambassador

ASTANA. KAZINFORM – Trade turnover between Canada and Kazakhstan is set to reach around $1 billion by the end of this year, said Kazakhstan’s Ambassador to the country Akylbek Kamaldinov, Kazinform correspondent reports.

On the margins of the 5^th Anniversary Plenary Meeting of the Kazakhstan Canada Business Council (KCBC) in Astana, Ambassador Kamaldinov praised the dynamics of bilateral merchandise trade between the two countries.

Although the two-way trade recorded a decline in 2020 due to the raging coronavirus pandemic, 2019 saw good dynamics, said the ambassador, adding that 2021 exceeded all expectations.

According to Akylbek Kamaldinov, in 2021 Kazakhstan attracted $380 million direct investment from Canada with trade turnover hitting $700 million. This year Canada-Kazakhstan merchandise trade has exceeded the mark of $700 million in January-August 2022 as the two nations continue to work closely in a number of sectors ranging from agriculture to technologies.

According to organizers of the meeting, Kazakhstan’s exports to Canada increased 3.6fold in the same period, totaling $609.2 million.

Ambassador Kamaldinov added that Kazakhstan is the number one uranium exporter to the Canadian market. In his words, Canadian business community takes a keen interest in various sectors of Kazakhstan's economy mainly thanks to similarities in economic structure, climate, and territory.