Kazakhstanskaya Pravda - Nazarbayev: Food is the most stable currency in today's world

The president of Kazakhstan took part in the plenary session of the XII Forum for Inter-regional Cooperation between Kazakhstan and Russia.

Kazpravda.kz reports that, according to the press service of Akorda, Nursultan Nazarbayev took part in the plenary session of the XII Forum for Inter-regional Cooperation between Kazakhstan and Russia.

The event was also attended by government members and heads of regions of Kazakhstan and Russia.

In his speech the head of state thanked Vladimir Putin for the high level of the event and stated that the Kazakh side deemed the forum as very important.

"A significant volume of trade between our countries goes through regions. This tradition should be continued, especially now when we face the impacts of the global crisis. It is also symbolic that this event takes place in Sochi, which has become a hyper project that will work and benefit subsequent generations," Nursultan Nazarbayev said.

The president of Kazakhstan also emphasised the importance of the themes discussed at the forum and pointed out that food was the most stable currency in today's world.

"Both our countries are agrarian and industrial and, consequently, we have significant opportunities in this sphere. According to the UN, by 2050 the global population will reach 9 billion people and the strongest challenge of future global development will be food security. Kazakhstan and Russia have priceless wealth - huge farmlands, with a total area of 435 million hectares, and significant experience in fundamental agrarian science. The diversity of natural and climate zones and fertile soils make us competitive in many agrarian sectors," the head of state added.

Nursultan Nazarbayev pointed out that the agro-industrial sector of Kazakhstan and Russia has unique export potential.

"The aggregate imports of China, Indian, the Caspian countries and Central Asian countries alone exceed US $170 billion. Our countries have necessary potential to become leading players in the global food market. Russia already ranks third in terms of grain exports. Our country is also part of this market today," the president of Kazakhstan said.

The head of state also emphasised that the capabilities of the agrarian sector are not used in full today.

"Our countries account only for 6% of milk production and 3% of beef production. Labour productivity is eight to ten times lower than in Canada and China. The current negative economic trends exert pressure on the development of our countries. At the same time, this situation gives us an opportunity to tap the internal growth reserves, including in the area of agriculture," Nursultan Nazarbayev said.

In this connection the president of Kazakhstan pointed out to the need to expand cooperation between the agrarian and processing sectors of the two countries.

"Today we see that our agrarian sectors are isolated from each other although our countries are members of the Eurasian Economic Union. Russia imports 1.5 million tonnes of all types of meat, including 600,000 tonnes of beef alone, from third countries. Kazakhstan is working to advance this market because we have huge potential in the animal breeding sector. Currently, our country produces about 4,000 tonnes of beef a year and we're ready to boost this indicator. In addition, the southern regions of our country have significant resources to supply fruit and vegetables to Russia and we can substitute imports from Turkey, Poland and China," the head of state noted.

Another priority mentioned by Nursultan Nazarbayev is the development of new standards and technical regulations to clearly determine the composition of products.

The president of Kazakhstan also emphasised the importance of innovations in agriculture.

"The agrarian sector needs modernisation and advanced technology. I would refer to Israel as an example. This country lacks fertile land but supplies fruit and vegetables to global markets. So, the agricultural ministries of our countries should consider the possibility of establishing joint agrarian innovation centres," the head of state said.

Nursultan Nazarbayev emphasised the importance of cooperation in mutual investment, the establishment of trans-boundary joint ventures, the building of industrial chains, and the ensuring of quality transport and logistics infrastructure.

"Kazakhstan is finishing the construction of the Western Europe - Western China corridor, which crosses Russia. This is where we could create centres to expand food supplies. The resources of Eurasian Development Bank could be used for this purpose. Out of twelve projects financed by the Bank this year, ten were in agriculture," the president of Kazakhstan stated.

To conclude, the head of state said that the member countries needed to take advantage of the Eurasian Economic Union and to jointly protect their economic interests.

"The EEU is in a difficult situation now: its trade turnover has shrunk by 20-25%. However, this was caused not by integration, but external factors, which include instability in global markets. We should survive difficult times. Any crisis is followed by growth, and for this reason we should prepare ourselves for a new breakthrough," Nursultan Nazarbayev said.