Kazakhstan eyes joint ventures with Pakistan in food, agriculture and pharmaceuticals

Kazakhstan on Wednesday signaled strong interest in forming joint ventures in food processing, agriculture value chains, and pharmaceuticals.

Federal Minister for Commerce Jam Kamal Khan held a comprehensive bilateral meeting with Kazakhstan’s Minister of Trade and Integration Arman Shaqqaliev at the Ministry of Commerce, Islamabad.

Both sides reviewed the current state of bilateral trade and explored concrete avenues for expanding economic cooperation, connectivity and investment, as per a statement.

During the meeting, both ministers reaffirmed their shared commitment to transforming Pakistan–Kazakhstan economic relations from potential to performance, with a strong focus on connectivity, investment-led growth and regional integration.

“They expressed confidence that sustained institutional coordination and private-sector engagement would significantly enhance bilateral trade and investment in the coming years.

The meeting focused extensively on addressing connectivity challenges between Pakistan and Central Asia and identifying practical solutions to unlock the full trade potential between the two countries.”

The pres release that the two countries agreed that improved rail, road and multimodal connectivity is fundamental to strengthening Pakistan–Kazakhstan trade and enabling sustainable, long-term economic engagement.

“The Kazakh Minister highlighted the strategic importance of developing major infrastructure projects, particularly railway and road corridors, noting that such initiatives could generate trade and investment flows worth approximately USD 5 billion while creating employment opportunities and supporting regional supply chains.”

Shaqqaliev emphasized Kazakhstan’s vision of becoming a regional hub connecting Central Asia with South Asia, China, Europe and the Global South, including Pakistan’s ports.

Meanwhile, the commerce minsiter underscored Pakistan’s strong interest in enhancing direct connectivity with Central Asia through Turkmenistan and Afghanistan, and also acknowledged regional and geopolitical challenges.

“He stressed that improved transit routes would not only benefit Pakistan and Kazakhstan but also open broader opportunities for regional and global trade, including access to African and ASEAN markets through Pakistan’s ports.”

Cooperation in priority sectors, including agriculture and food security, pharmaceuticals, textiles, sports goods, leather products, mining and minerals, energy, and infrastructure development also came under discussion.

Pakistan invited Kazakh investment in mining, minerals and agri-based industries under Pakistan’s investment facilitation framework.

The meeting also reviewed the need for structured business-to-business (B2B) engagement. Both sides agreed that trade promotion bodies should play a facilitative role by connecting businesses, sharing market intelligence and supporting matchmaking, without creating regulatory bottlenecks.

“In this context, it was agreed to work towards finalizing a framework document outlining priority sectors, trade targets and a roadmap of activities, including trade missions, exhibitions and exchange of delegations.”

The two sides agreed to prepare and sign non-binding Minutes of the Meeting to capture agreed ideas, next steps and timelines, serving as a practical commitment to advance cooperation while formal agreements proceed through relevant approval processes, the statement said.