Kazakhstan–Iran trade and economic dialogue discussed at sectoral seminar

On December 10, 2025, an informational and business seminar dedicated to the development of trade and economic cooperation between Kazakhstan and Iran was held in Astana. The program covered investment projects, logistics, transit, the agro-industrial complex, and industrial cooperation.

Representatives of national development institutions and sectoral associations spoke during the seminar. From the National Chamber of Entrepreneurs of the Republic of Kazakhstan “Atameken,” Gulnar Bizhanova, Member of the Board and Deputy Chairperson, delivered a speech. In her remarks, she presented the vision of the mining and metallurgical industry (MMI) in Kazakhstan’s economy and highlighted the key areas of the Chamber’s work to support the sector and develop new approaches to its advancement.

Gulnar Bizhanova emphasized that the mining and metallurgical industry not only affects the economy but largely shapes the industrial profile of the country: the industry’s production volume amounts to 14.3 trillion tenge, its contribution to GDP is around 8%, and more than 250,000 people are employed in MMI enterprises. Entire single-industry towns and settlements have been formed around the sector, and their development directly depends on its condition. Exports of MMI products reach 22.2 billion dollars, ensuring Kazakhstan’s presence in global markets for copper, uranium, ferroalloys, and iron ore.

Significant attention was paid to geological exploration. The presentation noted that the resource base is depleting, only about 16% of territories are licensed, and investment in geological exploration lags behind leading countries. At the initiative of the Chamber, geological exploration tasks were included in the National Development Plan, tax incentives have been introduced in the new Tax Code, aerogeophysics is being implemented, and auction mechanisms for subsoil use are being improved.

Gulnar Bizhanova also outlined the potential of technogenic mineral formations (TMFs). Kazakhstan has more than 1,700 TMF sites with a total volume exceeding 55 billion tons, while only about 11% of them are processed, whereas in several developed countries this figure reaches 70–80%. According to her, the development of TMF processing opens additional opportunities to return metals to the economy, form new industrial clusters, and improve the environmental situation.

On the same day, a meeting was held between Alisher Darkembayev, Director of the Commercial Activities Department of the Kazakhstan Foreign Trade Chamber, and Mehdi Heydari, Deputy Minister of Economy of the Islamic Republic of Iran, as well as Mahmoud Najafi Arab, President of the Tehran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture. The meeting addressed further cooperation between the business communities of the two countries and preparations for the Kazakhstan–Iran Business Forum, which will take place on December 11, 2025.