Kazakhstan to export cars to Afghanistan starting next year

Kazakhstan plans to begin exporting domestically produced cars to Afghanistan next year, according to Deputy Prime Minister Serik Zhumangarin.

«Kabul is developing rapidly, marked by ongoing construction and increasing trade. A middle class seems to be emerging, bringing greater purchasing power. As a result, our Afghan colleagues have requested that I arrange meetings to discuss establishing car centers for selling new and used cars from Kazakhstan. I’ve already reached out to several contacts and we are pursuing this initiative,» Zhumangarin said.

He added that Kazakhstan may begin exporting cars next year, but first, they need a reliable Afghan partner to help find or establish the premises for the auto center.

Zhumangarin also mentioned that a Kazakhstani automaker has shown interest in the proposal, though they are not yet ready to comment publicly on the matter.

«Yesterday [at the Kazakhstan-Afghanistan forum], we resolved a very important issue. Today, the correspondent account of one of Afghanistan’s largest banks, Ghazanfar Bank, will be opened in our Zaman Bank. This establishes a direct financial channel to Afghanistan, enabling seamless payments. Until now, we’ve relied on banks in Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and the Gulf region, which took a portion of the transactions as fees. Now, a Kazakhstani bank will manage these transactions directly, significantly transforming trade not only with Afghanistan but across the entire region,» Zhumangarin added.

In the first six months of 2024, Kazakhstan exported 554 vehicles, compared to 9,200 during the same period last year. The decline in sales is largely due to reduced exports to Russia. In the first half of 2023, Kazakhstan exported 8,400 cars to Russia, but that number dropped to just 115 this year. Analysts attribute this to new rules introduced in the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), where customs clearance of cars imported into Russia from other EAEU countries no longer provides any benefits. As a result, Kazakhstan’s car exports to Belarus have dropped by 18 times, while exports to Kyrgyzstan have declined by more than 25%.