15.04.26
Kazakhstan’s Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov met with Türkiye’s Vice President Cevdet Yılmaz, who arrived in Astana to attend the 14th meeting of the Intergovernmental Commission, to discuss trade and economic cooperation. According to a statement by the Prime Minister’s press service, the meeting focused on the current state and future prospects of bilateral trade, economic, and investment relations.
Bektenov emphasized that the strong friendship between Kazakhstan’s President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and Türkiye’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has formed a solid foundation for bilateral relations, noting that Türkiye is among Kazakhstan’s top five trading partners. He stated that bilateral trade volume increased by 9% last year, while Kazakhstan’s exports to Türkiye rose by more than 17.7%, reaching $3.9 billion. Vice President Cevdet Yılmaz underlined that Türkiye and Kazakhstan are not only friendly and brotherly nations but also strategic partners bound by shared history and culture.
He noted that the strong political will and shared vision of Presidents Erdoğan and Tokayev have played a key role in elevating bilateral relations to a high level, adding that strategic issues would be discussed during the commission meeting to develop a comprehensive roadmap for trade and economic cooperation. The Kazakh side expressed readiness to provide industrial zones and state support mechanisms for the implementation of new joint projects. Approximately $390 million in Turkish investments were attracted to Kazakhstan last year, bringing the total over the past 20 years to more than $6 billion.
Currently, 98 investment projects worth $4 billion have been implemented across sectors such as construction, light industry, metallurgy, deep processing of agricultural products, transport and logistics, pharmaceuticals, and electronics manufacturing. In addition, 50 projects worth $3.9 billion are under implementation. In the railway sector, freight transportation volume reached 6.4 million tons in 2025, marking a 35% increase compared to 2024. More than 4 million tons of cargo were transported via the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route.
The development of the Middle Corridor, modernization of infrastructure, expansion of port and terminal capacities, implementation of digital solutions, and coordination of tariff policies were identified as priority areas. In the agro-industrial sector, trade volume increased by more than 25% last year, reaching $360 million. The parties agreed to enhance cooperation in agrotechnology and insurance. In the energy sector, plans were discussed for major joint projects in oil and gas, as well as geological exploration. The strategic importance of the Baku–Tbilisi–Ceyhan oil pipeline was also highlighted.
Within the framework of the Organization of Turkic States, Kazakhstan and Türkiye are working with other member countries on establishing a cybersecurity council and developing the CubeSat-12U satellite. Opportunities for cooperation in digitalization and artificial intelligence were also discussed, with particular attention to Kazakhstan’s supercomputing infrastructure and the launch of the Alem.ai international AI center in Astana.
In the healthcare sector, joint projects are being implemented with Turkish partners, including the construction of new hospitals, development of oncology infrastructure, establishment of university clinics, and expansion of pharmaceutical production. At the end of the meeting, the parties signed the protocol of the 14th meeting of the Kazakhstan–Türkiye Intergovernmental Commission. Earlier, it was reported that the Turkish company VTK Global Investments and Trading plans to invest in the construction of a data center campus and renewable energy facilities in the Akmola region. Türkiye’s total investment in the Eurasian region reached $18.6 billion in the first half of 2025.
