Iranian Firm Invests in Kazakhstan Meat Plant

Iranian company Agro Portal, with the help of Kazakhstan’s National Company for Investment Support and Promotion, also known as Kazakh Invest, has invested in the construction of a halal meat processing plant in the Ondiris Industrial Zone in the Kazakh city of Semei.

Iranian investment in the project stands at about $21.5 million. The construction of the plant will start this year, Astana Times reported citing Kazakh Invest press service.

The Iranian company signed a contract for the implementation of the investment project with the Investment Committee of the Kazakh Ministry of Investment and Development.

“We closely cooperate with the Kazakh Invest representative office and the East Kazakhstan regional administration that fully support our project,” said Agro Portal General Manager Amir Shekarchi.

Modern, non-waste production lines will be installed at the facility and nearly 250 jobs will be created.

Up to 2,000 head of small cattle and 400 head of cattle are expected to be processed daily.

The production will be mainly export-oriented and up to 90% of production will be exported to Iran.

“Kazakh Invest will continue its activities to support this project for the construction of a meat processing plant. The agenda includes obtaining customs and tax preferences, subsidizing issues and visa support,” said Kazakh Invest East Kazakhstan Regional Director Madina Baisalbayeva.

The East Kazakhstan authorities are scheduled to visit Iran in late January to tour the feeding stations and dairy farms, meet local agricultural equipment producers and partners interested in importing Kazakh meat products.

Projects in the field of agro-industrial sector will be offered to potential investors.

The agro-industrial sector is one of the priority sectors for attracting foreign direct investment in Kazakhstan’s National Investment Strategy for 2018-22. The inflow of direct investments amounted to $135.2 million in agriculture from 2015 through the first nine months of 2017.

Kazakh Invest has offices in China, France, Germany, the UK, the US and Turkey to set up business contacts and identify areas of interest to foreign companies. It offers consultative support on issues related to implementing investment projects and organizing meetings and visits to Kazakhstan for interested companies.