This was agreed at a meeting in Kabul between Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Economy Serik Zhumangarin and Minister of Mining and Petroleum of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan Hedayatullah Badri.

At the meeting, both sides expressed satisfaction with the significant progress in the development of industrial relations over the past year. Serik Zhumangarin thanked the Afghan side for the support in organizing the field work of Kazakhstani geologists who arrived in Afghanistan to study potential deposits of solid minerals.

"Today, Kazakhstan has formed a professional pool of mining companies that have experience in the field of exploration, extraction and processing of solid minerals. And these companies are interested in finding and investing in potential deposits. Representatives of ERG Exploration, Kazakhmys Barlau, and Kazatomprom arrived as part of the Kazakh delegation for a detailed discussion with us," said Serik Zhumangarin.

During the meeting, the Afghan side expressed its readiness to further develop cooperation and assist Kazakhstani specialists in research work. The participants agreed to organize a joint technical commission to promptly discuss all emerging issues. The Kazakh side will send another group of specialists at the end of May to study potential deposits in other provinces of Afghanistan.  The Afghan side also expressed its readiness to provide information on confirmed reserves of natural resources of interest to Kazakhstani mining companies upon their request. 

On the same day, Serik Zhumangarin met with Ahmad Jan Bilal, Head of the IEA's Main Department for State-Owned Companies. The parties discussed the possibilities of expanding cooperation between Kazakhstani enterprises and Afghan state-owned companies. 

Contracts worth $140 million: results of the Kazakh-Afghan business forum

Serik Zhumangarin also took part in the opening of the Kazakh-Afghan business forum.  The event was attended by 50 Kazakhstani companies that presented a wide range of products, from traditional vegetable oil, pasta, rice to agrodrons and batteries.

"Afghanistan can become a significant logistics hub between Central and South Asia, and Kazakhstan can become a reliable supplier of food, technology, engineering, chemical and IT products. An ambitious but achievable goal has been set to increase trade volume to $3 billion in the short term. To achieve this goal, it is necessary to build sustainable supply channels, expand the range of mutual trade, and create favorable conditions for investment and entrepreneurial activity," the Deputy Prime Minister stressed.

According to the preliminary results of the first day of the business forum, commercial documents worth about $140 million were signed.

https://primeminister.kz/ru/news/tekhnicheskuyu-komissiyu-po-izucheniyu-afganskikh-mestorozhdeniy-poleznykh-iskopaemykh-sozdadut-kazakhstan-i-afganistan-29958

Source : https://www.gov.kz/memleket/entities/kostanai-ekonomika-zhosparlau/press/news/details/983084?lang=kk