Afghanistan and Kazakhstan sign $2m fresh food import deal boosting bilateral trade

Afghanistan and Kazakhstan have signed a new trade agreement worth $2 million, further expanding economic ties between the two countries.

The deals were finalized at a meeting in Kabul attended by Afghanistan’s Minister of Industry and Commerce Nooruddin Azizi and Kazakh Ambassador Gaziz Akbasov. 

They cover the import of around 600,000 tons of flour, wheat, flax and soybeans from Kazakhstan, a country ranked among the world’s top 10 wheat exporters.

Minister Azizi said the move was part of a broader strategy to raise annual trade volumes to an ambitious figure.

“Our goal is to increase trade with Kazakhstan to more than three billion dollars,” he said in a statement.

This week’s announcement follows an all-important visit by Kazakh officials to Kabul last month, during which multiple memorandums of understanding were signed in sectors ranging from agriculture and transport to energy cooperation. 

According to the Ministry of Commerce, those agreements laid the groundwork for this latest food import deal.

For Afghanistan, where the World Food Programme (WFP) warns that more than 15 million people face acute food insecurity, such agreements are vital. 

“Afghanistan produces only a fraction of the wheat it consumes. Dependence on imports is inevitable, and Kazakhstan is the most reliable supplier,” a senior official from the foreign ministry told AnewZ.

Ambassador Akbasov echoed this sentiment, saying Kazakhstan was committed to long-term cooperation. “Kazakhstan will continue supporting Afghanistan with agricultural exports, ensuring stability in supply chains and strengthening regional ties,” he said.

Bilateral trade between the two nations reached nearly 1.3 billion dollars in 2024, according to Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Trade. 

Both sides have indicated that future agreements could expand into energy and transit corridors, linking Afghanistan more closely with Central Asia’s wider trade network.

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