CAIRO: An Egyptian delegation headed by Minister of Trade and Industry Rachid Mohamed Rachid returned Wednesday from Kazakhstan where numerous trade issues aiming to increase investment opportunities between the two nations were discussed. Coming on the back of a November agreement to source $225 million worth of wheat from Kazakhstan, which boosted trade volume between the two countries from its 2006 figure of $10 million, the aimed for Egyptian involvement in various sectors in Kazakhstan, notably the huge infrastructure surge currently taking place there. To this effect, Rachid requested Kazakhstan's backing for Egyptian contracting firms to bid for the infrastructure projects already underway in the country. The wheat venture "has given a strong boost to our economic ties and brings these ambitious targets well within our reach, Rachid said after a meeting with his counterpart Galyn Orazbakov. Since Jan. 1 of this year, Egypt has already received wheat shipments totaling $38 million from Kazakhstan. Although initial predictions put future trade between the two countries at $400 million in five years, Rachid stated that it was "by no means unrealistic to expect total bilateral trade to reach the more advanced numbers of $1 billion in three years and $2 billion within five years. The Egyptian visit reciprocates a delegation from Kazakhstan that came to Egypt last March headed by President Nazarbayev Nursultan Abishevich who signed a Protocol with Rachid to establish the Egyptian-Kazakhstan Business Council. This came after Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak visited Kazakhstan in November as part of a tour that comprised Russia and China as well. Abishevich said at the signing of the Protocol, "Egypt and Kazakhstan want to boost trade and investment between our two countries. We see the considerable untapped economic potential that exists between us, and we want to capitalize on it. In addition to the recently established Egyptian-Kazakhstan Business Council, another new joint trade committee was established in this latest visit under the umbrella of the Business Council, which would look into writing up and implementing a road map to further increase and diversify trade between the two countries. "We want our wheat imports from Kazakhstan to grow significantly and we want Egyptian exports to Kazakhstan to increase in sectors such as pharmaceuticals, building materials and cables. What we need now is to set out a clear work plan to define the steps we must take to get there, Rachid said. The minister added, "The two sides of this joint trade committee must work to lend the necessary support to businesses in Egypt and Kazakhstan to do more and better business together, as a prerequisite for meeting our ambitious targets. Additionally, Egypt intends to use Kazakhstan as a springboard to exporting products to the rest of the region by setting up joint production facilities within the country. To begin the process, agreements are being ironed out to create manufacturing plants in the sectors of cement, fertilizers and electric cables. One impediment to the ease of trade between the two countries which the trade ministry is attempting to address is the lack of transport routes between Egypt and Kazakhstan. Rachid met with Transport Minister Serik Akhmetov on Monday specifically to tackle this issue. Rachid stressed that ease of transport was vital "to make the transfer of goods between our two countries shorter and more cost effective, and that air, sea and land links between Egypt and Kazakhstan must improve. He added that "improved transportation links with Kazakhstan will transform the reality of trade between us, opening new possibilities for our joint cooperation both in terms of products and sectors. As it stands, the wheat imported from Kazakhstan has almost doubled in cost from its initial price of $120 a ton because of transport hindrances. Another joint committee was established in this visit to discuss this point. For this reason, Rachid and Akhmetov discussed the inception of the first ever direct commercial flight route between Egypt and Kazakhstan, as well as other ways to facilitate the movement of goods between the two countries, such as Kazakhstan's intention to build a railroad which would link the country to the Mediterranean Sea via Turkey. For all intents and purposes, Egypt seems set to pursue greater economic relations with Kazakhstan, a thrust led by the Ministry of Trade and Industry itself. "Egypt has long enjoyed solid relations with Kazakhstan, but recently the emphasis in our relationship has shifted: today we are focused on the huge economic potential that exists between us and what steps we should be taking to capitalize on it, Rachid said as he set off on his visit.
