A large Kazakh trade delegation on Monday paid a visit to Istanbul and held bilateral business meetings with Turkish businesspeople. On the sidelines of the meetings, it was announced that the Turkish Industrial Zone, which aims to boost bilateral trade between Turkey and Kazakhstan, will be established in Kazakhstan's city of Almaty.

The trade delegation, organized by Kazakhstan's Investment and Development Ministry, the Chamber of National Entrepreneurs of Kazakhstan (Atameken) and the Chamber of International Commerce of Kazakhstan, featured companies with large-scale producers in energy, textile, mining, pharmaceuticals, aviation, agriculture, engineering, railway, construction, lighting and food industries.

Over 70 Turkish businesspeople also participated in the meetings and bilateral business talks held at Istanbul's Ritz Carlton Hotel.

In his keynote speech, the delegation's chair, Kazakhstan Chamber of International Commerce Vice Chairman Nuraly Bukeikhanov, said that since 1991, commercial and economic relations between Turkey and Kazakhstan have been continuing with the Foreign Economic Relations Board of Turkey (DEİK) within the framework of Turkish-Kazakh and Kazakh-Turkish business councils, stressing that the Kazakh-Turkish Joint Chamber of Commerce, which was established in cooperation with the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey (TOBB) in order to accelerate business relations and increase business volume between the two countries, will launch its operations in November in Istanbul and then in Astana via the representative office to be opened in this regard.

"In addition to the intent of increasing trade between the two countries and creating consortia on the occasion of the Joint Chamber of Commerce, we also want both countries to have easier access to export and trade opportunities in Chinese, Russian, European and Middle Eastern markets, especially in other Turkish republics," Bukeikhanov added.

Commercial and economic cooperation between Kazakhstan and Turkey is further developing with each passing year, Bukeikhanov continued, pointing out that the current entrepreneurial communities are strengthening the already existing ties and establishing new business partnerships in new sectors.He informed the audience that the trade volume between Kazakhstan and Turkey in 2017 amounted to $1.8 billion, including $1.1 billion in exports and $700 million in imports. He stressed that compared to previous years, the foreign trade volume between the two countries has increased significantly.

"The Turkish Industrial Zone will be established this month in our city of Almaty in order to continue our trade in an increasing and unimpeded manner. In this area, privileges will be given to entering the market in priority sectors, as well as advantages in land, infrastructure, electricity and taxation," Bukeikhanov said.

Commenting on the meetings and bilateral talks, Bukeikhanov stated that they were quite productive and motivating for Kazakh and Turkish companies.

"We think that ecologically clean agricultural products in Kazakhstan may be attractive for Turkey from new trade fields, such as meat products, cereals and legumes [lentils, chickpeas, mung beans and peas]. Besides, vegetable oil, honey, construction materials, pharmaceutical products and heavy machinery equipment can also be subject to the issues of cooperation," he said. "Today, other sectors that register from Turkey to hold talks with the companies in our delegation include energy [oil and gas], construction, leasing and private transportation, as well as a number of retail chains."

Bukeikhanov also underlined that oil and gas preparation equipment, metal structures, pharmaceutical products, cereals and lentils come to the fore among the products in demand from Turkey in bilateral business talks.