Kazakh-born Kusto Group founder, Yerkin Tatishev, said that Kazakhstan has long been considered one of the breadbaskets of the Soviet Union. Agriculture has essentially played a fundamental role in the country’s social, environmental and economic development. Kazakhstan has created strong ties to bolster its agribusiness collaboration with the United States for a long time. In addition, both USA and Kazakhstan saw the need to look at possibilities and prospects that could gear up the agribusiness industry.
Kusto Group is committed to creating a modern agricultural sector, taking advantage of Kazakhstan’s rich land resources.
Therefore, Kazakhstan and the United States have highlighted the tremendous potential for scaling up the agro-industry, majorly in crop production, protein, and mechanized irrigation. This intense effort is aimed at creating an excellent bilateral relationship.
US-Kazakh collaboration on the horizon
The growing bilateral ties between USA and Kazakhstan have created confidence in developing the agribusiness sector in Kazakhstan. Incentives and finance from the United States have played a key role in this.
Deepening economic integration and trade has also been an enhanced strategy for strengthening ties between the two countries.
Moreover, supporting agriculture activities is the real prospect of seeing ambassadors, ministers and business associates come together from the USA and Kazakhstan. The underlying principle here is to increase Kazakhstan’s economic production and improve trade among world countries.
Where does the US interest in Kazakh business come from?
United States interests have majorly been in manufacturing sectors alongside agribusiness, transport, logistics and engineering industries. The volumes of direct investments in these sectors have gradually increased to a record level because of the robust and active partnership.
Also, the countries are still on the verge of restoring key indicators that level up the country’s total inflow of investments. The cooperation in the energy sector has born much success between the two countries.
Agriculture and renewable energy offer significant prospects for improving ties, given the enormous natural resources in Kazakhstan. With this great potential, the United States is still exploring more opportunities to bolster its interests as it improves its ties with Kazakhstan.
Kusto Group and US – Kazakhstan diplomatic relations
The US-Kazakh diplomatic relationship has taken more than 30 years. Around 54 billion dollars have been invested in different companies that work for the Kazakhstan economy. Based on the given statistics, more than 600 American companies have operations in Kazakhstan, meaning the trade environment in the country is favorable.
Enhancing the strong partnership between US and Kazakhstan is still a critical element discussed. This helps initiate new reforms that help improve the business environment in different sectors of the economy.
It also ensures cooperation in designing new prospects and investment opportunities such as Kusto Group’s opening of 65 Wendy’s Restaurants across Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Georgia. In response to the many upcoming Wendy’s restaurants, Kusto Group anticipates creating 1450 new jobs.
What are the opportunities for the US companies in Kazakhstan agriculture?
US companies enjoy a substantive opportunity for their products which they export to aid Kazakhstan agriculture. The equipment exported by the United States to Kazakhstan includes sprayers, reapers, seeders, tractors, grain combined harvesters and cultivators, among others.
The growing need to use modern technologies has been the influencing factor for the new opportunities. There has been an increasing market for the United States’ food-related exports like poultry, beef, planting seeds, and beverages in Kazakhstan.
The large imports of Kazakhstan poultry meat, cane sugar, and black tea give USA room for potential opportunities. Thus, the excellent relationship and strong partnerships can bolster how USA and Kazakhstan engage in agribusiness activities.
Kusto Group’s generous action during the economic decline caused by Covid-19.
Since the advent of Covid-19, countries’ have seen tremendous challenges leading to a decline in the sectors of the economy. The level of external outflows reduced significantly because of strict policy measures introduced to cap the virus.
High pressures indicted by the pandemic on significant sectors of the economy also affected the sources of development finance.
The pandemic created a ripple effect on the domestic flow of incomes since jobs most industries were closed because of fear of a decline in investments. In addition, reduced financing for some sectors of the economy was due to the need to combat the virus.
Yerkin Tatishev and Kusto Group responded by taking action. They donated food and medical supplies to hospitals and people in Ukraine and Kazakhstan. In recognition of his act of philanthropy, Tatishev was awarded the Entrepreneur of the Year by the multinational professional services network Ernst & Young.
So, polishing the future approaches can help support entrepreneurs and the country in restoring its economic stamina. It will also leverage bilateral ties among nations.
The need to improve access to finance for agribusiness.
Access to finance is essential in enhancing agribusiness inclusiveness and developing entrepreneurial activities. Having available funds at an affordable cost empowers farmers and eases the financing activities of agribusiness.
This enables farmers to increase their capital and food production, which is the ultimate goal of ensuring food security globally.
Improving access to finance is essential in initializing productive investments and developing a country’s economy. The funds from public loans can help stimulate and support economic growth to a good level.
Therefore, developing agribusiness needs proper access to finance to scale up operations to generate far-reaching incomes for various individuals. This will also mitigate the challenges of engaging in agribusiness activities in better ways that are essential in uplifting the country’s economy.
Kusto Group’s activity in five sectors
Yerkin Tatishev established Kusto Group in 2002. The company operates in five sectors: agriculture oil, gas, real estate, and building materials. Tatishev believes that Kazakhstan has an excellent opportunity for global leadership in agriculture. According to him, bilateral ties between countries are significant. It allows governments to take advantage of the opportunities offered by other nations and develop solid mutual relationships. Additionally, citizens of certain countries can benefit from trading with businesses from friendly nations, which will enhance the country’s economy.