Delegations from Kazakhstan and India are meeting to discuss the next steps to be taken to enhance bilateral trade and economic cooperation between the two countries.
According to the Embassy of Kazakhstan, in New Delhi, the meeting of the Special Working Group on Trade and Economy will be reviewing the entire gamut of bilateral trade and economic issues that exist currently and will decide which key areas to focus on going into the immediate future.?
Reuters
The Kazakh delegation at the talks will be led by Mr?Turebayev Kairat, the Director of the Department of International Cooperation of the Ministry of National Economy, and the Indian delegation will be led by Additional Secretary in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry Mr?Bidyut Behari Swain.? The Indian delegation will also see the presence and participation of representatives of two companies ¨C Multiwyn Industries Pvt. Ltd. and Chandan Steel Limited.?
Multiwyn Industries Pvt. Ltd is classified as a non-government company and is registered in Kolkata. It is involved in real estate activities with own or leased property. This includes buying, selling, renting and operating of self-owned or leased real estate such as apartment building and dwellings, non-residential buildings, developing and subdividing real estate into lots etc. It has been in existence since 2006.
Chandan Steel Limited is a corporate entity of 49 years standing focused on promoting high-quality stainless steel products and services. It has a vision to become one of the most preferred suppliers and leading manufacturers of stainless steel products both in India and abroad.
An embassy release quoted Kazakhstan¡¯s Ambassador to India, Mr?Bulat Sarsenbayev, as saying that India and Kazakhstan currently engage on the bilateral commercial front through six Special Working Groups -- 1) Economy and Trade (2) Textiles (3) Combating Terrorism (4) Military and Technical Cooperation (5) Information Technologies and (6) Textiles, and that there is a proposal to create three more ¨C in Transportation and Logistics, Health and Pharmacueticals.
Ambassador Sarsenbayev placed particular emphasis on the need for both countries and their respective governments to come up and out with what he described as ¡°result-oriented outcomes¡±.
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¡°I am satisfied with the developments taking place in our bilateral relations so far over the past four years, but there is room for improvement. The results could be better. I am looking to achieve a bilateral trade of five billion dollars. I believe areas like infrastructure, transportation and logistics are points from where positive results and outcome can be achieved with great success. At present, logistics is the main obstacle. We, Kazalkhstan and India, have to aim for product competitiveness. Kazakhstan currently imports from India products like marble, spices and tea. We import 10 million dollars¡¯ worth of tea from India.¡±
He added, ¡°India needs to be more active. There are so many areas of mutual interest where both of our countries can cooperate. For example, the Indian government could think of establishing small tea houses or tea bars across Kazakhstan through a mutually beneficial bilateral arrangement. It will be very popular and there is scope for being inventive such as adding music, folk or other; having different flavours of tea imported into Kazakhstan to give people their choices etc.¡±
Ambassador Sarsenbayev also revealed the giant strides made in tourism traffic. For instance, he said, that in 2016, the Government of Kazakhstan issued 10,000 visas to Indians. This went up to 19,000 visas in 2017. He said national carrier Air Astana offers Delhi to Almaty daily flights and a Delhi to Astana flight service four times a week.
He maintained that bilateral ties between the two countries have been growing dramatically and continue to do so.
¡°Leaders of our two countries are now meeting every year in different parts of the world. There is a better and deeper political understanding between the two leaderships,¡± he said.?
This view has also been endorsed by India¡¯s Ambassador to Kazakhstan, Mr. Prabhat Kumar.
Recently in an interview given to Astana Times, Ambassador Kumar said, ¡°The year 2017 marked the 25th anniversary of diplomatic relations between India and Kazakhstan. Since 1991, when Kazakhstan gained independence, both countries have strengthened their relations. India and Kazakhstan have excellent relations. In 2009, India and Kazakhstan became strategic partners following President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev¡¯s visit to India. Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi visited Kazakhstan in 2015 and 2017. Politically, we have excellent relations and economic and commercial ties are improving every day.¡±
ANI
¡°Both countries are partners in areas such as healthcare, education, space, IT technology and energy¡.We feel that there are a lot of opportunities, especially in the area of energy, where Kazakhstan is strong. We would like to increase our cooperation in this area and invest more in the oil and gas sector. India is also well positioned in renewable energy, especially in wind and solar, and Prime Minister Modi initiated establishing the International Solar Alliance (ISA) composed of more than 121 countries. The primary objective of the alliance is to work towards efficiently exploiting solar energy to reduce dependence on fossil fuels, which will also help countries meet the climate change goals. We would like to invite Kazakhstan to become a member of that alliance. India also can help in promoting renewable energy here by bringing our expertise in solar and wind. Therefore, energy is a good field to work on,¡± Kumar told the Astana Times.
Kazakhstan is India¡¯s largest trade partner in Central Asia, with last year¡¯s trade turnover between the countries reaching USD 1 billion. India is interested in Kazakhstan¡¯s oil, uranium and ferro alloys; Kazakhstan imports mainly Indian medicines and tea. The sides can increase this figure by improving transport connection between the countries,¡± the paper quoted Ambassador Kumar, as saying.
Speaking of tourism and air connectivity, the Indian envoy said in his interview, ¡°Direct flights have had a positive effect on tourism. Approximately 20,000 people came from India to Kazakhstan last year and approximately 15,000 Kazakhs visited India. The figure is increasing every year and the embassy has simplified the procedure for issuing visas. We have introduced an electronic visa. This means that a person applies for a visa online and in two days, it will come back. It is cheaper. It costs $50 and it is valid for two months. Medical tourism is (also) one of the fastest growing segments of Indian tourism, as the country annually attracts a number of individuals for medical treatment. India¡¯s Ayurveda therapy is known worldwide for is holistic healing methods to promote good health. Approximately 200 Kazaks went to India for medical treatment last year.¡±