For the Foreign Trade Chamber of Kazakhstan, 2025 turned into a year of dense, almost uninterrupted work — without pauses and empty statements. Over twelve months, the Chamber held 128 events in a wide range of formats — from small working meetings to large international forums attended by heads of state. This packed calendar clearly demonstrated how, step by step, Kazakhstan’s external economic position was being strengthened, its network of partners expanded, and new opportunities opened up for domestic businesses.
The most in-demand — and at the same time the most “hands-on” — format consisted of 53 business meetings, which became the backbone of the Chamber’s entire systematic activity. This is where the day-to-day, intensive work took place: concrete projects, company requests, logistics issues, legal support and future cooperation steps were discussed. Throughout the year, the Chamber organized meetings with business delegations and representatives of economic institutions from China, Southeast and South Asia, Europe, the Middle East and the CIS — including chambers of commerce, business associations, multinational corporations, financial organizations and logistics operators. A special role was played by contacts with Ambassadors Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary from a wide range of countries — from Japan and Italy to states of North Africa and the Baltics — strengthening the political and business dimension of cooperation and opening new channels for dialogue.
Alongside working meetings, the Foreign Trade Chamber was also active on the international public stage. Over the year, it conducted or supported 25 business forums and 22 meetings of business councils, including major multilateral platforms. Bilateral business council meetings were held with Kazakhstan’s key European, Middle Eastern and Eurasian partners — covering geography from the European Union to the Middle East and Central Asia. A special milestone was the 10th anniversary meeting of the Kazakhstan–Russia Business Council, which confirmed the resilience and maturity of economic dialogue between the two countries. In the same category were the 26th SCO Business Council meeting, the 8th CICA Business Council meeting in Baku, the 2nd Central Asia–China Business Council session and the 8th Kazakhstan–China Business Council meeting — all of which helped set the tone for multilateral economic engagement and highlight priorities for the future.
An important part of the Chamber’s work involved events linked to the signing of agreements and memorandums. Over the year there were at least six such occasions — platforms where the agreements reached received formal status and transitioned into the practical phase, creating a solid institutional base for further cooperation.
In 2025, the Chamber’s international agenda was clearly multi-vector. The largest number of events was tied to China — 21 in total — reflecting the strategic nature of that partnership and the objective of doubling bilateral trade. Japan also featured prominently, with around seven events during the year. Active engagement continued with Azerbaijan and Iran, as well as with Jordan, Italy, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Switzerland, Uzbekistan, Russia, France, Germany, the UAE, Venezuela and others. This broad reach allowed the Chamber to work simultaneously with both traditional markets and new destinations that hold promise for Kazakh businesses.
A special place in 2025 belonged to four events attended by the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev — effectively the high points of the Chamber’s year. On March 31 at Akorda, during the official visit of the President of Slovenia, the Chamber ensured the business component of talks, underscoring its role as an institution shaping the economic substance of top-level contacts. On August 27, a Kazakhstan–Jordan business forum was held in Astana with the participation of the President of Kazakhstan and King Abdullah II of Jordan, opening new opportunities for cooperation in trade, investment and logistics. On September 2 in Beijing, the 8th Kazakhstan–China Business Council meeting took place with the participation of the President of Kazakhstan and President of the PRC Xi Jinping — the central business platform of the year for the China track, where the Chamber provided direct and substantive dialogue between the business communities of both countries. Completing this series was the forum on October 28 in Astana with the participation of the Presidents of Kazakhstan and Finland, Alexander Stubb, expanding the spectrum of high-level contacts and outlining prospects in technology, innovation and sustainable development.
All of these events formed a single, coherent picture. At the operational level, the Foreign Trade Chamber of Kazakhstan conducted dozens of working meetings, forums and business missions; at the strategic level, it was seamlessly integrated into the agenda of official visits and major international platforms chaired by the Head of State. In 2025, the Chamber firmly established itself not merely as an organizer of events, but as a true conduit of state economic policy within the business community — whose daily, often unseen work creates real opportunities for the growth and international presence of Kazakh businesses.
