Kazakhstan to revive falling trade with long-time partner Czech Republic - ambassador
Speaking at a briefing, the Kazakhstani diplomat noted progress had been achieved in all spheres of Kazakh-Czech bilateral cooperation throughout 23 years of diplomatic relations.
"The two-way trade is at a high level. Back in 2009, the Czech Republic included Kazakhstan into top 12 of its trade partners. The bilateral trade turnover has grown 6fold since that year. It reached $1.2 billion in 2014, compared to $200 million in 2009. Given the negative outcomes of the global economic crisis and falling oil prices, the two-way trade almost halved last year making only $666 million. However, we are pretty optimistic about it and will use all instruments to revive it," Ambassador Abdykarimov said Wednesday.
He praised the Kazakhstan-Czech Republic Intergovernmental Commission for commercial, economic, industrial, scientific and technical cooperation for its successful functioning. The commission held 8 sessions, the next one is scheduled to take place in Prague.
According to the Kazakh ambassador, the Czech Republic displays interest to a wide range of projects in Kazakhstan, especially in energy sector.
Kazakhstan, in turn, is interested in Czechia's industrial potential, engineering, car manufacturing and agricultural sectors.