Kazakhstan Minister: Russia Squeezing Export Space, Kazakhstan Needs to Enhance Competitiveness and Tap into Chinese Market
The Kazakh International News Agency reported on April 9th that at the roundtable meeting held today in the Mazhilis (lower house of parliament) regarding the export potential of agricultural products, Deputy Minister of Trade and Integration of Kazakhstan, Jeniel Kushkuova, stated that although the export of agricultural products is continuously growing, there is still a need to further develop the enormous potential of the Chinese market.
"We see that the demand for Kazakh meat products from neighboring countries is continuously rising. For example, in Central Asia, with population growth, the demand for beef has increased by 21%, bottled water demand has grown by 24%, plant oil demand has increased by 32%, sugar demand has grown 6.4 times, and potato demand has increased by 58%. We also plan to expand our exports to Afghanistan and further tap into the potential of the Chinese market," Kushkuova pointed out in her speech.
She also noted that despite the broad export prospects, Kazakhstan still faces a series of challenges in fully unleashing its agricultural export capabilities.
"These opportunities are certainly encouraging, but they also come with many risks. A major issue is that the market pressure from other major agricultural product exporting countries is increasing. For example, due to sanctions restrictions, Russia is entering some export markets previously dominated by Kazakhstan. In this situation, we must face competition," she said.
Kushkuova added that the special nature of agricultural product exports lies in the fact that veterinary quarantine and phytosanitary agreements require approval from both parties to be passed.
"Even within the existing framework, while the agreement form allows us to export products to the target country, there may still be obstacles in actual practice," she emphasized.
Original Source: https://www.toutiao.com/article/1828894745824331/
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