Region
Belarus' Mogilev Oblast, Kazakhstan to promote integration, joint facilities
Mogilev Oblast Governor Anatoly Isachenko met with Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Kazakhstan to Belarus Yerlan Baizhanov to discuss the prospects for the development of bilateral relations, BelTA has learned.
"Interregional ties is the locomotive of bilateral relations. People meet and resolve the issues that concern them,” Anatoly Isachenko stressed. “Decisions made at the interregional level are relevant and effective. We need to deepen and strengthen our relations in order to press forward, especially in the light of the recent developments in the world. I hope that we will exchange delegations soon and give a new impetus to our cooperation".
According to the governor, since 2019 the trade between Mogilev Oblast and Kazakhstan has increased 1.5 times: from $44.8 million to almost $70 million in 2022. "However, I think it's still modest,” Anatoly Isachenko noted. “We have great opportunities to increase these figures. This will benefit our people in the end, because it will mean an increase in household income. Our focus will be on this front.”
The governor also noted that Belarus and Kazakhstan have already more than 30 years of diplomatic relations and maintain vibrant interregional, economic and cultural ties. In terms of exports, Kazakhstan is among Belarus' top ten trading partners. For Mogilev Oblast, Kazakhstan is one of the most important economic partners and ranks second in foreign trade and export among the countries of the Eurasian Economic Union. Belarus' major exports to Kazakhstan include tires, dairy products, poultry meat, elevators, car and tractor spare parts, pumps, and chipboards.
Large enterprises maintain close ties too. For example, Kazakhstan is one of major markets for Mogilevliftmash. It operates two assembly enterprises there, in Aktobe and Almaty. Since the beginning of 2023, 346 elevators have been delivered to the country, but the potential of the company is much greater. It is ready to participate more actively in the elevator replacement program and new construction projects in Kazakhstan. Belshina from Bobruisk is ready for further cooperation as well. This year, despite the fall in export prices by more than two times, the company sold 51,000 tires more in Kazakhstan than last year.
"Kazakhstan sees great prospects for deepening cooperation with Belarus in all avenues, both at the national and regional levels,” Ambassador Yerlan Baizhanov. Regional cooperation is an important track that needs a new momentum. Moreover, agreements have been signed between Mogilev Oblast and two regions of our country: South Kazakhstan Region (now Turkestan Region) and East Kazakhstan Region. The Embassy of Kazakhstan in Minsk will take them under special control and try to give these agreements a new lease on life.”
A Kazakhstan delegation toured a number of large companies in Mogilev Oblast, including Babushkina Krynka dairy, Mogilevliftmas and the free economic zone Mogilev. “In technological terms, the Belarusian manufacturing sector has been doing very well rivaling the world analogues,” the ambassador noted. “It is important for Kazakhstan to promote cooperation with Belarus not only in trade but also in investment. We will be glad to see advanced companies, innovators from Belarus in our country. It is important for us to develop industrial cooperation. This is why I am here and I am seriously optimistic".