Russia’s Interfax news agency reports that Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has urged Central Asian states and Azerbaijan to jointly draw up a strategy to raise intra-regional trade turnover to $20 billion.
Interfax reports that Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev put forward the proposal on 8 October 2026 at a consultative meeting bringing together the leaders of Central Asian countries and Azerbaijan. According to the agency, Tokayev noted that mutual trade and economic ties are gaining new dimensions each year, with a growing number of jointly established enterprises. He also pointed to large-scale projects underway in sectors such as industry, machine building, energy and agriculture.
Interfax quoted the Kazakh leader as saying that trade barriers have been gradually easing in recent times, with new border crossing points opening and road and rail transport links expanding further. Even so, he said, the countries’ domestic market potential remains underused.
Citing agency data, Interfax reported that intra-regional trade totalled roughly $13 billion last year, accounting for only 8% of the countries’ overall trade turnover. Tokayev recommended that governments develop and approve a joint action plan aimed at raising this figure to at least $20 billion.
New targets for regional trade
Interfax says the initiative also envisages steadily increasing the share of mutual trade within overall turnover. The agency did not provide further details on other topics discussed during the meeting.
