Kazakhstan is interested in boosting bilateral business with India

Yerlan Alimbayev, Ambassador of Kazakhstan in India, said that trade between his country and India has reached USD 1 billion in the first eight months of this year. The expected trade turnover is USD 1.5 billion for the current year. The target is to reach USD 5 billion in bilateral trade, he added. Kazakhstan is the largest supply of uranium. Kazakhstan has supplied 9,000 MT of uranium to India till date. Going forward, it will supply 1,000 MT of uranium per year to India, he added while speaking at a MCCI organised Interactive Session. Earlier, Vishal Jhajharia, President, MCCI in his welcome address said that as per statistics of Kazakhstan for 2017, total bilateral trade between India and Kazakhstan amounted to USD 981.8 million, out of which exports from Kazakhstan was to the tune of USD 757.14 million, and exports from India was USD 224.66 million. Trade turnover between the two countries amounted to USD 1.2 billion at the end of 2018, showing a 26.5 p.c. increase compared to a year earlier. India-Kazakhstan economic relationship is significantly influenced by energy resources. India is not just an important oil importer but the proposed TAPI pipeline – The Turkmenistan–Afghanistan–Pakistan–India Pipeline (TAPI), also known as Trans-Afghanistan Pipeline may also boost the import of natural gas by India from Kazakhstan. Besides the traditional source of energy the two nations are also collaborating on clean nuclear energy since Kazakhstan is endowed with large nuclear reserves and India is a large energy consumer. India has a civil nuclear pact with Kazakhstan for the purchase of uranium from Kazakhstan. As per UNCTAD investment report, from 2001 to 2012, Kazakhstan received USD 200 million of FDI from India while India received USD 29 million of FDI from Kazakhstan during the same period. The proposed North-South Transport Corridor, an important cross-border connectivity project comprising Kazakhstan-Turkmenistan-Iran-India, can significantly enhance India’s trade & economic engagement with Eurasia in general and Kazakhstan in particular. The ambitious project, which plans to link Gujarat’s Mundra Port with the strategic port city of Bandar Abbas on the southern coast of Iran on the Persian Gulf, and connect it to Iran-Turkmenistan-Kazakhstan railway network and onwards to Eastern Russia, will not only provide access to the markets of this landlocked region to Indian businesses, but also create a corridor to import natural resources from the region in a shorter period than being done currently. During the Kazakh-Indian Investment Forum held in New Delhi in November, 2018 which was dedicated in expanding business ties across sectors, it was felt that the bilateral trade turnover must reach the USD 5 billion mark and many important investment proposals were discussed including the possibility of India’s GMR participating in the implementation will not only provide access to the markets of this landlocked region to Indian businesses, but also create a corridor to import natural resources from the region in a shorter period than being done currently. 
During the Kazakh-Indian Investment Forum held in New Delhi in November, 2018 which was dedicated in expanding business ties across sectors, it was felt that the bilateral trade turnover must reach the USD 5 billion mark and many important investment proposals were discussed including the possibility of India’s GMR participating in the implementation of a large investment project for the construction of a transport and logistics hub near Astana or Almaty International Airports.