As Tatibaeva noted, the initiative to create a unified regional approach to promoting agricultural products was proposed at the first forum in November 2025 and has already begun to be implemented.
“The issue of internal trade has been raised by private businesses on a regular basis. Considering that the population of the region exceeds 80 million people and the total GDP is about $400 billion, the volume of intra-regional trade remains extremely low – around $11 billion,” she added.
Tatibaeva emphasized that one of the main tasks is to increase mutual trade turnover through the introduction of unified quality standards and product certification. According to her, Central Asia is gradually changing its role from a transit corridor to a region that actively produces and exports its own products.
“We are on the path of transitioning from a buy and sell model to an invest, produce, and sell model,” she noted.
Moreover, she reported that the private sector finds it difficult to enter large international markets without unified standards and quality requirements. In this regard, a regional logistics hub has already been established at the border of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, which will facilitate the formation of large product batches and simplify the export process.
A digital platform is also currently being developed, which will unite producers from all five Central Asian countries.
“With its help, it will be possible to find any producer in the region in the shortest possible time, and the 'single window' system will allow documents and certificates to be submitted in digital format, significantly speeding up the border crossing process,” she reported.
Tatibaeva highlighted the importance of harmonizing certification standards and creating an international coordinating body to regulate these processes. She noted that active interaction between the government and the private sector is already bearing fruit and contributing to the transition from theoretical discussions to concrete projects.
In her opinion, a unified brand, regional approach, and digital solutions can open new horizons for the development of agricultural exports and strengthen economic cooperation among the countries of Central Asia.
