Kazakhstan, Pakistan aim to boost trade to $1 bln

ASTANA. Sept 10 (Interfax) - Kazakhstan and Pakistan have set a goal to increase mutual trade to $1 billion per year and expand supplies of 40 types of goods, the Kazakh Trade and Integration Ministry's press service said.

A meeting between Kazakh Trade and Integration Minister Arman Shakkaliyev and Pakistani Trade Minister Jam Kamal Khan took place in Islamabad on September 8, the press service said.

"Kazakhstan and Pakistan are setting an ambitious task to increase mutual trade to $1 billion. Kazakhstan is ready to increase supplies of 40 commodity items, including petrochemicals, metallurgy, machinery and pharmaceuticals," the press service quoted Shakkaliyev as saying.

The signing of an agreement on transit trade is an important area of cooperation, the parties said. The draft agreement is being prepared for signing in November of this year during Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev's visit to Islamabad.

According to the Kazakh Agriculture Ministry, the first meeting of the joint working group on agriculture was also held in Islamabad, where special attention was paid to opportunities for supplying Kazakh grain, including exports in the B2B format.

"During the negotiations, agreements were reached in a number of areas, including the supply of food wheat, oilseeds and sunflower oil to Pakistan, developing joint investment projects in the production and processing of agricultural products, expanding the export geography of Kazakh agricultural products and deepening cooperation in the research and educational sphere of the agricultural sector," the Agriculture Ministry's press service said.

According to the ministry's information, trade turnover of agricultural products between the countries increased 22% in 7M 2025 and amounted to $19.4 million. The basis of Kazakh exports consists of dried legumes, flax seeds and buckwheat.

According to the Kazakh Trade Ministry's data, mutual trade reached $89.6 million in 7M 2025, up 2.5-fold year-on-year. Kazakh exports grew 7.2-fold to $55.5 million, while imports increased 19.3% to $34.1 million.

According to United Nations Comtrade, Pakistan's exports to Kazakhstan in 2024 amounted to around $277.6 million. These were mainly supplies of agricultural products (grains, citrus fruits and oilseeds) and food products. Pakistan's imports from Kazakhstan in 2024 amounted to only $1.54 million. The largest share of supplies from Kazakhstan consisted of inorganic chemical compounds and metals.