World Monitor Magazine, №1/2020 WM_March 2020_FOR WEB (12.03.) | Page 9

DESTINATION KAZAKHSTAN In 2019, Kazakhstani products were exported to 120 countries (in 2018 – 119 countries), with 800 commodity items exported. At the end of 2019, the total volume of exports of non-primary goods from Kazakhstan amounted to $15.1 billion. By 2025, the ministry is faced with the task of increasing export volume of non-primary goods to $29.5 billion; that is, almost two times the current figures. Last year, there was a slight decrease in the export of processed goods compared to 2018 (in 2018 this figure was $15.7 billion). There are explainable reasons for this. The consequences of the accident at the Arcelor Mittal steel mill remain, which resulted in a 36.4% decrease in the export of flat rolled non-alloy steel. Technical work on the main equipment of the Eurasian Group (ERG) contributed to a decrease in the export of aluminum and its products by 9.6%. As well as a decrease in world prices for ferroalloys, with their exports falling by 12.8%. With the introduction of duties in Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, there has been a decline in flour exports. Due to the coronavirus, the Chinese quar- antine has complicated the conditions of world trade and forced all countries to di- versify their economies and change their export structure. Kazakhstan is no excep- tion. The Ministry of Trade and Integration conducted work to study the export opportunities of various sectors of our economy and the needs of markets in different countries. Within the framework of foreign trips of representatives of the Ministry of Trade and Integration of the Republic of Kazakhstan the prospects for increasing Kazakhstan's export supplies were discussed. For each country, a list of Kazakhstani products was compiled that could be supplied to these countries. The list was compiled based on the results of extensive analytical work: studying imports to each of these countries, Kazakhstan's exports in general, and to the country in question. That is, if Kazakhstan produces goods that are imported, for example, into the United States or Switzerland and are in great demand there, it was calculated the following way: did Kazakhstan have volumes to export or needed to increase exports, how would the Kazakhstani product would be competitive in price (in terms of quality, products from Kazakhstan in foreign markets is very competitive). In the case of a positive assessment, the product fell into the list of goods with export potential to this country. Kazakhstan offered more than 263 commodity items to the countries of the European Union, Switzerland and the USA for a total of more than $2 billion. It is both about expanding the current volume of trade and the appearance of new products. In trade with Russia, it is possible to expand export by 87 commodity items, worth almost $250 million. With the countries of Central Asia (Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Turkmenistan) – for 236 processed products worth almost $0.5 billion. We have offered 60 positions to the PRC market, with a total value of almost $1.3 billion. In total, we have offered eight states and the Eurozone lists of our goods is worth more than $4 billion. The state provides maximum support to enterprises that export. So, in 2019 alone, 92 exporters received preferential loans in the amount of 139.3 billion tenge, insurance support – 74 exporters in the amount of 90 billion tenge, and also 3 billion tenge were directed to service support. Along with this, in 2019, measures were first introduced to support the manufacture of processed products. Thanks to this, 139 export-oriented enterprises were able to reduce their transportation costs by almost 4 billion tenge. Through rail, air and road transport, Kazakhstani products were exported to the markets of Russia, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and China. In terms of marketing support for the six months of the Ministry’s existence, more than 50 events were held abroad with the participation of about 300 Kazakhstani companies. As a result of the measures taken, 61 export contracts were concluded in the amount of more than 114 billion tenge or $300 million. To strengthen cooperation on promoting the export of Kazakhstani products, establishing trade cooperation and concluding transactions with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, a joint action plan was forged. We expect that these mechanisms will reduce production costs by 5-10%, as well as expand the geography of exports and the range of goods. For example, new markets have already appeared. Kainar-AKB LLP exports over 60% of its products to the CIS countries, the Russian Federation, Germany, Afghanistan, China, the United Arab Emirates, and also to Italy. The ministry has begun work on introducing a new system of state support – an exporter’s acceleration mechanism, which will allow Kazakhstan’s entrepreneurs to gain free, intensive development of the company in export matters, get an in-depth analysis of the supported by EUROBAK 7