A meeting of the Russia—Kazakhstan Business Council was a key highlight of the first day of the 16th Russia—Kazakhstan Interregional Cooperation Forum organised by the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation and the Roscongress Foundation in Omsk. Discussions at the meeting centred around the general theme of «Modern Aspects of Economic Cooperation» highlighting the drivers of improved interactions between the two countries. The meeting was attended by representatives of Russia and Kazakhstan’ Chambers of Commerce and Industry, major businesses, and government authorities.
The two largest countries in the post-Soviet space share more than just similar economic models inherited from the Soviet era but also common neighbours, common political interests, and cross-border ties of regions spanning from the Volga to the Altai region. This offers extensive opportunities for joint industrial and trade development, innovation, and exports. So it was only fitting that Vladimir Padalko, Vice President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation, was the panel’s moderator.
Participants in the meeting discussed promotion of cross-border cooperation, exports, and cooperative ties, as well as energy cooperation prospects.
«More than 10,000 businesses with Russian capital successfully operate in Kazakhstan, to be found virtually in every sector of the economy. As we know, since 1 January 2015, we have been operating within the common space of the Eurasian Economic Union, aiming to ensure free movement of goods, capital, and labour. To enable it, a strong institutional framework has been established and effective formats developed for interactions among Member States. Our business people have been empowered through the provision of effective mechanisms that were put in place to enable entry into new markets for their products without having to deal with any additional administrative requirements. Unfortunately, there are also certain trade constraints, totalling about 70 today and listed in the relevant white paper, but the Eurasian Economic Commission is working to eliminate them,» said Temirlan Zhantasov, Director of the Economic Integration Department at Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Trade and Integration.
The meeting participants from both countries shared their latest insights on promoting cooperation in various areas, with success stories being a separate focus of discussion. Mikhail Smirnov, President of EnergoInnovatsiya Association of Innovative Energy Enterprises, presented a case study on «Energy 4.0: Challenges and Cooperation in the Context of Industry 4.0», and Yevgeny Lysakov, Sales and Rental Manager at Vostochnaya Tekhnika spoke about power supply solutions for oil and gas fields and other stand-alone sites, as well as other new solutions offered by his company to industry players. The participants showed great interest in the technology case presented by INGC — a project to localise the production of BORSIG ZM reciprocating compressor, which has already caused a sensation as it has potential of taking the Russian compression industry to a whole new level in the next few years.
«The volume of trade between Russia and Kazakhstan has been growing at around 5% a year, reaching as much as USD 18 billion last year. This is a good figure but it is still very small considering the real opportunities that can open up for our countries in this area. We can cooperate not only in energy and logistics but also, for example, in retail trade — here too, opportunities are enormous. We need to intensify information sharing, organise joint discussions, participate in exhibitions, and hold presentations, that is to step up joint activities in any way possible,» said Vladimir Padalko.
The 16th Russia—Kazakhstan Interregional
Cooperation Forum focusing on Topical Issues Related to the Development of
Cross-Border Cooperation is taking place in Omsk on 6–7 November 2019. For
more details on the event, please visit the website.
