Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan Eye Joint Expansion Into New Markets

Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.uz) — Entrepreneurs and business associations from Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan discussed opportunities to jointly promote goods in third-country markets, including Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan, during the Uzbek-Kazakh Business Forum in Tashkent. The issue featured prominently on the forum's agenda alongside bilateral trade.

Syria: Demand for Construction Materials and Food

An Uzbek trade house opened in Syria in March this year. According to its representative, Nail, the country is in a period of reconstruction about one and a half years after the end of the war.

"Syria currently needs food products and construction materials from different countries because there is already a plan to build about 6 million apartments," he said.

He identified construction materials, sunflower oil, meat products, and Kazakh-made galvanised and steel products as being in particularly high demand, noting that the latter are not manufactured in Uzbekistan.

Uzbekistan has exported dried fruit to Russia, Belarus and Arab countries for the past 25 years. Nail said exports to Kazakhstan have so far been limited to occasional small shipments through intermediaries, but the company now aims to establish direct contracts.

Kanat Sharlapayev, Chairman of the Presidium of Kazakhstan's National Chamber of Entrepreneurs Atameken, instructed participants to develop the Syrian direction separately, noting existing contacts with the Qatari holding PH, which is involved in construction projects in Syria.

"This is an extremely important direction for both Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan," he said.

Iraq and the Kurdistan Region

Sharlapayev said that about 180 entrepreneurs from Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan Region, centred in Erbil, visited Kazakhstan around 20 days ago. According to him, a significant share of imports entering the region is subsequently distributed across the rest of Iraq and neighbouring countries, including through re-exports to Turkey and Iran.

He said Iraq imports goods worth US$95 billion and exports US$109 billion, of which US$108 billion consists of oil, meaning that almost all other products consumed in the country are imported.

Forum participants noted that Iraqi business partners often require full prepayment for seven to eight truckloads of goods per month. They also said infrastructure constraints make it more practical to supply semi-finished products, such as unpackaged household chemicals or polyethylene granules, instead of energy-intensive finished goods.

Afghanistan: Growing Exports and Mineral Supplies

Kazakhstan's exports to Afghanistan during the first seven months of 2025 almost matched the total recorded for the whole of 2024, reaching about US$500 million. The target is to increase exports to US$3 billion.

Alongside export growth, participants noted increasing supplies of mineral raw materials from Afghanistan. In particular, they discussed a contract to supply zinc ore to the Almalyk Mining and Metallurgical Complex in Uzbekistan.

Logistics: Spare Capacity on Turkish Trucks

Participants also discussed a logistics route using spare capacity on Turkish trucks travelling through Uzbekistan. Davron Vakhabov, Chairman of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Uzbekistan, said about 350,000 Turkish trucks transit Uzbekistan every year and return empty. Turkish drivers do not require visas to travel through Turkmenistan.

According to him, transporting cargo along this route costs between US$2,900 and US$3,500 and takes eight to ten days, compared with US$6,000 to US$8,000 for direct transport.

Participants' Views

Vakhabov also highlighted differences between the requirements of European markets and those of recovering Middle Eastern economies.

"No one in Germany needs your products because the standards are very strict. But in countries where domestic production was absent for a long time, such as Syria and Iraq, the situation is now stabilising, and this creates a major opportunity," he said, citing the growth of Kazakhstan's exports to Afghanistan over the past two years.

As another example of the potential to diversify exports, he pointed to Uzbekistan's confectionery and furniture industries, where production volumes are doubling annually and part of the output is already being exported to Moscow.

Business Missions Planned

The parties agreed to organise joint business missions to third countries, including Aleppo in Syria at the end of September, to coincide with the official opening of the trade house, and Erbil in Iraq in early October.

Regional chambers of entrepreneurs in Kazakhstan were instructed to prepare lists of sector-specific interests within 24 hours and submit them to the Uzbek side to facilitate the formation of business delegations.