The European Union has invited Irish agri-food businesses to apply to join an official trade mission to Kazakhstan in May.
To coincide with the EU Commission’s presence at the InterFood Astana international fair, EU Agriculture Commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski will lead a delegation of agri-food businesses.
The purpose of the visit from May 27-31 is to facilitate European agricultural food and beverage exports to Kazakhstan and expand their presence in the Central Asian markets.
Kazakhstan is a key partner for the EU in the region, which has gained strategic importance after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The mission will be the first of its kind in Central Asia, with Kazakhstan being selected due to its “vast agricultural land”.
EU agri-food exports to the country were worth almost €600 million in 2022, while imports into the EU member states from Kazakhstan were valued at €490 million.
Agri-food trade mission
Commissioner Wojciechowski wants the trade mission delegation to include European and national producers’ organisations.
He also is seeking companies from all EU member states with strong export potential that preferably have not participated in such EU projects before.
The EU Commission invites business representatives of the following sectors to apply to join the trade mission by the deadline of January 26:
- Fruits, vegetables, and their preparations;
- Wines and spirits;
- Preparations of pig meat and poultry;
- Dairy products;
- Cereals and their preparations.
The commission said that the final selection of the business representatives will be based on product and geographical balance of the delegation.
“In this context the candidates’ representativeness of a given sector, their capacity to conduct international business and accessing challenging markets will also be considered,” the commission added.
The visit to Kazakhstan will concentrate on providing market intelligence in the food and beverage sector, business-to-business activities, as well as retail and site visits.
“The programme of the business delegation will provide the representatives of the European agri-food sector with an excellent platform to discover Kazakhstan’s market and to make direct business contacts both in Almaty and Astana,” the commission said.
Participants will be expected to cover their own travel and hotel costs, while business events and local transport will be funded by the EU Commission.