Prospects of organic and halal industry development in Kazakhstan

Prospects of organic and halal industry development in Kazakhstan
07 September 2019

On September 2, 2019, in a message named as «Constructive social dialog is a foundation of stability and prosperity of Kazakhstan», President of Republic of Kazakhstan Mr. K. Tokayev noted: «We have immense potential for manufacture of organic and environmentally friendly products, which could be in demand both domestically & internationally.»
During governmental meeting on 30th of July, Prime Minister of Republic of Kazakhstan assigned development of halal and organic production Roadmaps to the Ministry of Agriculture. The assignment aimed to not only develop domestic market but also to increase their potential for export. On 3rd of September, the completed Roadmaps were approved by the government of Kazakhstan.
The Roadmaps involve implementation of a number of measures intended to study needs and rules of access to the markets of priority countries, to build an institutional structure in halal industry, to receive acceptance of a national certification procedure on international level, to receive scientific and informational support and other. A specific deadline is set for every procedure, and all governmental organizations and agencies are involved.

For reference: according to the Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL) and Organics International (IFOAM), Kazakhstan was 26th in 2017 in terms of organic production area in 277,145 ha.

 Major manufacturers of organic products are farms of Akmola, Karaganda, Kostanay and North Kazakhstan regions, which export wheat, lentils, barley, canola, flax, peas and other grains. There are 61 manufacturers and 7 importers.
According to the data from Research Institute of Organic Agriculture, Kazakhstan exports around €10m worth of products to the EU. USA, China and Muslim countries are interested in organic products of Kazakhstan as well.
Meanwhile, domestically produced halal products are popular in countries of Persian Gulf, Turkey, Iran, Central Asia and Russia. 30% of all products exported from January to June of 2019 (around $451m) were halal products. Around 900 manufactureres were given halal certificates to aid the development of halal industry.
It is worth noting that implementation of the Roadmap measures will help local products grow in demand on foreign markets, increase their profitability and improve labour productivity.

Source: https://moa.gov.kz/ru/post/505