Trade Turnover between Kazakhstan and Turkey: Features and Nuances

For decades, the main trading partners of Kazakhstan remained Russia, China, and Uzbekistan. However, since 2010, another promising direction has been developing – trade with Turkey. By 2024, it is considered the most prioritized in the field of investment and trade-economic relations.

A record trade volume between the countries was recorded in 2022, when it reached USD 6.3 billion. In the same year, Turkey ranked 4th among countries with the largest trade turnover in Kazakhstan. In just the first quarter of 2024, exports from Kazakhstan to Turkey reached USD 804.8 million, while imports from Turkey amounted to USD 426.3 million.

What Does Turkey Export?

Turkey's economy is one of the fastest-growing in the world. This is partly because it is multi-sectoral, achieving success in agriculture, industry, energy, and hydro-energy. For example, Turkey ranks first in the world in supplying hazelnuts, cherries, apricots, and dates, second in cucumbers and chickpeas, third in eggplants and green peppers, fourth in onions and tomatoes. The country is third in Europe in the production of plastics and sixth in paint manufacturing. The state offers its trading partners many options for cooperation.

Exports from Turkey to Kazakhstan are concentrated around the following products:

• Light Industry Goods: They account for 37% of total exports. In 2024, businesses trading with Turkey are interested in women’s and men’s clothing (primarily knitwear), accessories, bedding, carpets, and floor coverings. In the first quarter of 2024 alone, Turkey imported 14.9 million clothing items into Kazakhstan, totaling over USD 76 million.
• Industrial Goods: They make up 20% of total trade turnover, mainly including equipment for processing ores, stone, and soil.
• Food Products: The leaders in this category are sunflower seeds (Kazakhstan purchased nearly USD 20 million worth in the first quarter of 2024) and citrus fruits (over USD 5 million for the same period). The most demanded items from Turkey are oranges, mandarins, and lemons.

Other promising directions include pharmaceuticals, furniture, motor oils, children’s products (diapers and nappies), and soap. Turkey also exports chicken eggs for incubation to Kazakhstan.

Note that Turkey’s foreign trade is versatile: among the countries it trades with are Germany, the USA, Iraq, France, the UAE, Russia, and the Netherlands.

What Does Turkey Import?

Turkey’s imports, like its exports, are characterized by diversity. The country purchases from Kazakhstan:

• Oil and Oil Products: The total amount as of the first quarter of 2024 reached USD 412.5 million. Oil field development is active in Turkey (for example, in Şırnak Province), but oil product consumption exceeds production. Therefore, the country is forced to import a large portion.

• Metals: Including copper and its alloys, lead, and zinc.

• Gas: The gas situation in Turkey is almost the same as with oil. The country produces gas but only covers 2% of demand.

• Agricultural Products: Mainly legumes like peas and lentils. Turkey has its own planting areas for legumes, but their number has significantly decreased over the past 10 years, making imports relevant.
  
  

Kazakh entrepreneurs who want to supply goods to Turkey should pay attention to other priority areas – industrial equipment, for example, lathes, data storage devices, and cotton.

Features of Trade with Turkey

When building trade relations with Turkish entrepreneurs, it's important to remember the currency of settlements. Transfers are made not in U.S. dollars, as with most other counterparts, but in Turkish liras. It's essential to choose the right partner bank: it should work with the Turkish national currency and provide services for effective foreign economic activities. Bank CenterCredit offers such a comprehensive product. Among the advantages of the solution are versatile tariff plans, online contract registration, currency control, and contract verification before concluding a deal. Each entrepreneur is assigned a personal manager. The SWIFT GPI Tracker system ensures maximum speed in processing payments worldwide, allowing the tracking of the status of foreign currency transactions at any stage.

If a Kazakh company wants to export products to Turkey, it needs to prepare a goods declaration in export mode. This document is issued by a customs broker through the "ASTANA-1" system. Afterward, export duties and fees must be paid.

When the company ships export goods, two invoices need to be issued – one for stock release and another for transport. Note that specific product types may require additional permit documentation.

An electronic invoice (e-Invoice) must be prepared. The preparation of this document has a timeframe of 20 calendar days.

VAT on the export of goods is 0%. The supplier must have documents confirming the legality of applying the zero VAT rate.

Historical and cultural ties, joint projects – all this has allowed Kazakhstan and Turkey to build long-term cooperation in the trade segment. Today, Kazakhstan is one of Turkey’s significant economic partners. As already noted, 2022 was the “golden” year in terms of bilateral trade turnover (volume – USD 6.3 billion). Both parties share a common goal – to increase bilateral trade volume to USD 10 billion.

This article has been translated from its original language using neural network-based translation technology.