ASTANA, November 27. /TASS/. Kazakhstan has joined the top five largest trade partners of Russia for the first time in the history of bilateral relations and the countries can climb above the level of $30 bln in their mutual trade, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said after talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
"Kazakhstan is for the first time among the top five largest trade partners of Russia in the history of bilateral relations, which definitely evidences presence of the solid and high potential of our cooperation. I am confident that if such positive dynamics is maintained, we will be able to surpass the level of $30 bln in the coming couple of years," Tokayev said.
Significant successes were achieved in the industrial sphere, he said. "Ninety-three joint projects were launched to the amount over $18 bln. Forty-nine projects more are being implemented at present with investments totaling almost $30 bln. Large-scale initiatives on gas infrastructure development for a number of Kazakhstan’s regions, the buildup in volumes of Russian energy resources transit in the southern and eastern direction, and construction and upgrade of large power installations in our country deserve particular attention," the leader of Kazakhstan noted.
The trade turnover of Kazakhstan and Russia reached $27 bln and Russia’s share of foreign trade of Kazakhstan is almost 20%, Tokayev said earlier.