ASTANA, Kazakhstan, July 5. Kazakhstan is ready to transform into a reliable supplier of critical metals, said the Minister of Industry and Construction of Kazakhstan Kanat Sharlapaev, TurkicWorld reports.
He made the remark during a meeting with Turkish Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Alparslan Bayraktar.
"In the near future, our country is ready to transform into a reliable supplier of critical metals to achieve common goals for the green energy transition," he said.
To note, Kazakhstan and Türkiye have a long history of friendly relations and partnerships in various areas of the economy. In order to further develop Kazakh-Turkish relations, the parties discussed the possibilities and prospects for cooperation in the field of rare minerals and rare earth elements.
During the meeting, the parties also touched on the topic of cooperation in the defense industry.
In addition, during the discussions, the Kazakh side expressed its readiness to provide support to Turkish companies for the successful implementation of joint projects in Kazakhstan.
Meanwhile, the volume of trade turnover between Kazakhstan and Türkiye amounted to $6 billion in 2023. The volume of trade turnover decreased by 5.3 percent compared to the same period in 2022 ($6.3 billion).
At the same time, in the structure of trade turnover, exports to Türkiye for the above period amounted to $3.9 billion, which is 16.4 percent less than from January through December 2022 ($4.7 billion).
In addition, imports from Türkiye from January through December 2023 increased by 27 percent and amounted to $2 billion. In 2022, imports amounted to $1.6 billion.
