Pakistan, Kazakhstan to forge comprehensive economic partnership

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and Kazakhstan on Tuesday pledged to transform their historic and cultural ties into a comprehensive economic partnership, with both sides reaffirming a shared vision for deeper trade, industrial cooperation, and enhanced regional connectivity.

The understanding was reached during a meeting in Islamabad between Federal Minister for Commerce Jam Kamal Khan and Kazakhstan’s Minister of Trade & Integration Arman Shakkaliyev.

Welcoming the Kazakh delegation, Minister Jam Kamal Khan stressed that Pakistan attaches “great significance” to its brotherly relations with Kazakhstan and seeks to expand them into a broad-based economic partnership.

He said both countries must work together to unlock their true trade potential, noting that current bilateral trade remains far below expectations.

The Kazakh side acknowledged Pakistan’s role as a key partner in South Asia and expressed confidence that bilateral trade could be raised to USD 1 billion in the near future.

Minister Arman Shakkaliyev underlined that agriculture, leather, SMEs, and IT are promising sectors for cooperation, and highlighted Kazakhstan’s strong export base in beet, grain, and sunflower oil, which could help Pakistan meet domestic demand following recent flood damage to crops.

Discussions placed particular emphasis on agricultural products and leather processing.

Kazakhstan produces large volumes of grain and beet—already exported to Italy, China, Vietnam, and Bangladesh—while Pakistan may require additional imports of wheat, rice, sugar, and cotton.

On leather, both ministers observed that Central Asia often wastes valuable raw hides and sheepskin due to insufficient processing. Pakistan, with its advanced tanning industry and skilled workforce, offered collaboration in technology transfer, training, and joint ventures. It was agreed to connect the Kazakhstan Leather Association with the Pakistan Tannery Association to formalize this partnership.

A milestone achievement will be the signing of the Pakistan–Kazakhstan Transit Trade Agreement soon. The agreement is expected to enhance regional connectivity and facilitate trade flows between Central Asia and South Asia.

Both sides also agreed to intensify business-to-business engagement. Pakistan has already hosted the Pak–Kazakhstan Business Forum in Karachi earlier this year, where over 250 Pakistani and 80 Kazakh companies participated. The two ministers endorsed the idea of joint exhibitions, composite pavilions, and trade missions to showcase exportable products.

Kazakhstan’s Gas Trade and Pakistan’s Trade Development Authority (TDAP) would coordinate in preparing business-to-business meetings and sectoral matchmaking.

The ministers also reviewed progress made under the 13th Session of the Pakistan–Kazakhstan Intergovernmental Commis-sion (IGC), held earlier in April 2025, where a roadmap for trade and economic cooperation and a MoU on e-commerce collaboration were signed.

Follow-up initiatives, such as the Globe Pakistan Summit held in July, facilitated B2B meetings between e-commerce entities of both countries. Minister Jam Kamal Khan reiterated Pakistan’s commitment to facilitating Central Asian trade through its ports and transport networks, stressing that regional prosperity depends on collective action and stronger connectivity.

“Pakistan is fully committed towards enhancing regional connectivity and shared prosperity by facilitating global trade of Central Asian Republics through Pakistan,” he said.

Both sides concluded the meeting with a renewed determination to expand cooperation in agriculture, industry, logistics, and digital trade.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2025