The 1st Institutional Meeting of India-Kazakhstan Joint Business Council, co-chaired by Mr. Yerzhan Shaikenov, CEO of Tengri Bank and Mr. Dinesh Sood, Senior Partner of Sun Group, was held in Nur-Sultan on May 19, 2016.
Ambassador Shri Harsh Jain delivered a keynote address on “Defining Economic Cooperation for the Future”. He stated that the meeting is one of the important outcomes of the Joint Business Forum chaired by the Prime Ministers of the two countries during Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi’s visit to Kazakhstan in July, 2015.
Ambassador gave a brief account of the evolution of economic relations between the two countries since independence of Kazakhstan in 1991. He noted that the bilateral trade and economic cooperation have not kept pace with the rapid economic growth witnessed by the two countries. He observed that the major bottleneck is the lack of efficient surface connectivity. He, however, opined that opening up of the Iran-Turkmenistan-Kazakhstan rail link in December 2014, signing of an MOU by Kazakhstan Temir Zholy and Adani Ports to explore the possibility of setting up a cargo terminal at Mundra port last year and India’s collaboration with Iran to build Chabahar port would improve transport connectivity in coming years.
He stressed that the Inter-Governmental Commission, respective Joint Working Groups and the Joint Business Council need to be more effective in resolving the outstanding issues including simplification of visa regime for Indian businessmen and identifying new areas of mutually beneficial cooperation.
Given India’s rapid economic growth in next few years, he stated that there is a strong potential for future economic cooperation between the two countries in hydrocarbon and renewable energy, mineral resources, agriculture and food processing, defence, fertilizer, education, tourism and entertainment industry. He also identified the service industry including IT, English and medical education, health services and medical tourism, financial and consultancy services as the areas which offer opportunities for close cooperation. He urged both Co-Chairs to identify priorities and chart out a clear programme of action to realize expansion of bilateral trade and investments between India and Kazakhstan.
Mr. Shaikenov stated that the Joint Business Council would provide a platform for promoting business relations between India and Kazakhstan. Mr. Sood emphasized that the Joint Business Council should adopt specific goals and targets for expanding bilateral economic relations. Ambassador of Kazakhstan to India Mr. Bulat Sarsenbayev and Chairman of Chamber of International Commerce (CIC) Mr. Ruslan Sultanov also spoke on the occasion.
FICCI & CIC signed a protocol of the 1st Kazakhstan-India Joint Business Council. The protocol reaffirmed commitment by both sides to further strengthen economic cooperation and set specific goals and task for further development of economic and socio-cultural ties between India and Kazakhstan.
