185 joint ventures are registered in Kazakhstan with the participation of the Czech capital, of which 107 are operating ones

Prospects of development of Kazakh-Czech trade and economic relations were discussed at the business forum in Astana.

Opening the event, chairman of the Chamber of Commerce of Kazakhstan Ayan Erenov noted the importance of the meeting in light of the decreased turnover between the two countries over the past two years. According to him, discussion of prospects of cooperation in the B2B format will allow to give impetus to trade and economic relations between Kazakhstan and the Czech Republic.
Chairman of the Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament of the Czech Republic Jan Gamachek stressed that Kazakhstan is the largest trading partner of the Czech Republic in Central Asia, and therefore the opportunities for bilateral cooperation are much higher than those used today.

"Over the past two years there has been a significant decrease in trade between our countries. But it's not that Kazakh or Czech production has lost its appealing traits, the global external factors have played their role. I am sure that both sides have the possibilities to be used to correct this. I see this as the purpose of this forum", - said Jan Gamachek.

Vice-Minister of Energy of the Republic of Kazakhstan, co-chairman of the Kazakh-Czech intergovernmental commission from the Kazakhs side Bakhytzhan Dzhaksaliyev reported that since 2002, the parliamentarians of the two countries have carried out 10 mutual visits. He praised the growing interest of Czech businessmen to mutual cooperation with Kazakhstan.

"The Czech Republic is one of the priority business partners of our country. Today 185 joint ventures with participation of the Czech capital are registered in Kazakhstan, out of them 107 are operating ones. The Czech Republic sells cars, spare parts, electrical equipment, furniture, products made of glass, pharmaceutical products in Kazakhstan. For Kazakhstan an important area is the development of mechanical engineering, in particular, engineering technologies. This sector is the most strong point of the Czech economy, the basis of its export potential. We already have certain results, JSC "Asia Auto” and “Skoda Auto”. They launched a conveyor line for manufacturing “Skoda Octavia” and  the executive class car “President Edition”. Since 2009, the volume on the Skoda brand cars totaled 19,888 vehicles worth almost 70 billion tenge", - said Bakhytzhan Dzhaksaliyev.

However, he also believes that the partnership between the two countries at present does not meet the existing potential. According to his information, the gross inflow of direct Czech investment in the Republic of Kazakhstan from 2005 to 2016 amounted to only 186 million dollars.

The Vice-Minister stressed that all conditions are created by the state for the development of the Kazakh-Czech cooperation. In the framework of the intergovernmental commission the work is being in progress on improvement of the business climate.

It should be noted that the forum was attended by Kazakhstani and Czech companies, engaged in the development and production of special vehicles, cosmetics and veterinary products, fertilizers, supply of information and communication technologies, and others. Interests of the Czech business are represented by the Economic Chamber of the Czech Republic led by Michal Shtaflom. This organization is the largest representative of the entrepreneurs in the Czech Republic, which has 15,000 businesses, generating more than 60% of GDP. By analogy with the Chamber of Commerce of Kazakhstan the Economic Chamber of the Czech Republic organizess business missions of Czech entrepreneurs to other countries.

For example, this time for the first time Kazakhstan was attended by representatives of the company FARMDATA, which is engaged in the consolidation of information about the companies that produce pharmaceutical products.

According to the head of FARMDATA Joseph Simacheka, the company is a monopolist in the market of the Czech Republic for more than 8 years, and is working with pharmaceutical companies in Germany, Austria and France.

"In total we have more than 3 thousand partners. We collect data on the pharmaceutical companies. And if their products meet our standards, then we introduce it in our registry, so the company can find new markets ", - said Joseph Simachek.

But the representative of the Kazakhstani LLP "Kazger kus" Svetlana Chaplinskaya was looking for a partner in the field of recycling during the forum.

"Now we are considering a new direction - processing of poultry waste, manure into biogas or fertilizer within the frames of the development of green economy. And here I am looking for potential partners. The forum was presented by a Czech company, which is engaged in engineering and we can create a project from scratch, to share technology. We have already talked, exchanged contacts and hope for further cooperation ", - said Svetlana Chaplinskaya.
The result of a business forum was the signing of a memorandum on cooperation between the Chamber of Commerce of Kazakhstan and the Economic Chamber of the Czech Republic.