Kazakhstan Eyes $30B Trade Milestone with Russia

(MENAFN) Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said trade between Kazakhstan and Russia is approaching record levels and is expected to surpass $30 billion in the near future, highlighting the growing economic partnership between the two countries.

Speaking during talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Astana, Tokayev pointed to the steady expansion of bilateral economic ties and described Russia as one of Kazakhstan’s most important partners.

“The volume of trade between Kazakhstan and Russia is reaching record levels — about 30 billion dollars,” he said.

Tokayev also praised the broader economic relationship, noting that Russia remains the largest source of foreign direct investment in Kazakhstan.

“Russia is currently the leader in direct investment into our economy -- $29 billion,” Tokayev said, adding that Kazakhstan intends to continue expanding cooperation in this area.

According to the Kazakh president, the two countries are currently implementing 177 joint projects with a combined investment value of approximately $53 billion. He said Russia’s contribution to Kazakhstan’s economic development is significant and difficult to overstate.

For his part, Putin described cooperation between Moscow and Astana within international organizations as a model of constructive engagement.

The Russian leader also argued that efforts by countries hostile to Russia to slow its economic growth have been unsuccessful.

“Despite attempts by some of our opponents to fight this, they themselves do not have everything in order,” Putin said.

He further stated that Russia ranks fourth globally in purchasing power parity terms, behind China, the United States, and India.

The remarks came during Putin’s state visit to Kazakhstan, where the two leaders are discussing trade, investment, energy cooperation, and other areas of strategic partnership.

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