The Vice Minister of Agriculture of Kazakhstan, Amangaliy Berdalin, met with the Vice Minister of Environmental Protection and Agriculture of Georgia, Apollon Kakabadze. Amangaliy Berdalin emphasized that cooperation between the two countries in the agricultural sector is a priority. The dynamics of trade in agricultural products show positive growth: for the 11 months of 2024, the trade turnover reached $65.4 million, which is an increase of 11.1% compared to the same period in 2023. At the same time, exports from Kazakhstan grew by 28.2%, as reported by the Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
Amangaliy Berdalin highlighted the interest of Kazakh businesses in establishing exports of various goods to Georgia, including grain, flour, vegetable oils, meat and dairy products, honey, and confectionery.
During the meeting, the parties signed veterinary certificate forms for breeding, utility, and slaughter cattle, creating conditions for expanding trade cooperation.
“In particular, the high cost of meat products in Georgia opens up new opportunities for exporting products from Kazakh agricultural producers. Furthermore, the Kazakh side proposed to enhance cooperation under the memorandum of understanding between the departments, which will facilitate improved interaction in livestock, crop production, food and feed safety, veterinary medicine, and agricultural product processing,” the statement said.
A crucial aspect for Kazakhstan remains the digitalization of agriculture. Specifically, information technologies are being implemented to enhance accounting, monitoring, and traceability of products, along with the launch of systems for the identification of agricultural animals and veterinary sanitary examination of meat. Plans include integration with European Union countries for tracking the movement of livestock products. Therefore, Georgia's experience in digitalizing and automating processes in the agricultural sector, conducted in collaboration with FAO, is of particular interest.