Diversifying Kazakhstan’s Exports

Annex A. Methodology

Overview of the project

In May 2022, the OECD, with the financial support of the Republic of Kazakhstan, launched a new project to improve trade connectivity in Central Asia, and export promotion in Kazakhstan. This project complements the 2019 joint OECD-ITF assessment of connectivity and freight challenges in Central Asia. A first report taking stock of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan’s progress in the OECD Trade Facilitation Indicators (TFI) and presenting preliminary results for Turkmenistan for the first time has been published in December 2023. The report showcased areas of TFI improvement, evaluated remaining trade barriers and provided recommendations for trade facilitation reforms, the need for a co-ordinated approach to improving trade facilitation across the region to reduce trade costs substantially, lifting both trade turnover and growth.

This report summarises the analytical guidance and capacity-building on export promotion policies in Kazakhstan provided by the OECD in 2022 and 2023. It focuses on practical aspects of export diversification agreed upon in collaboration with the government of Kazakhstan: (i) how to develop export promotion policies for SMEs; (ii) how to design a one-stop shop for exporting SMEs; and (iii) how to improve cross-border co-operation in Kazakhstan’s Caspian Sea ports.

Data collection process

This note summarises OECD findings and recommendations based on a series of interviews, questionnaires, and a study visit to Aktau, Kazakhstan. The OECD collected data through a series of consultations with public and private stakeholders in Kazakhstan to assess and develop recommendations on each of the three dimensions of the analysis (Table A.1). Complementing the interviews, detailed questionnaires and data requests have been sent to the Ministry of Trade and Integration, QazTrade, Kazakh Export, Atameken, and the Chamber of Commerce of Kazakhstan. The OECD also conducted a three-day study visit to Aktau, Kazakhstan, which was organised and accompanied by QazTrade.

The note further built on the extensive corpus of OECD research on SMEs, trade and export promotion, and has been supported by analytical notes from QazTrade. In addition to the interviews and questionnaires, data has been collected by the OECD through desk research, and benchmarked against OECD best practices. The work has also benefitted from in-depth analytical notes drafted by QazTrade for each dimension of the analysis. For each dimension, the OECD then assessed the current state, identified challenges, priority areas for policy action, and possible drivers for implementation.

Table A.1. Selected list of interviews conducted by the OECD

Institution	Date
QazTrade	November 8, 2022
	February 14, 2023
	February 15, 2023
	March 17, 2023
	June 29, 2023
Minister of National Economy	November 8, 2022
European Union Delegation to Kazakhstan	November 8, 2022
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance of Kazakhstan	November 8, 2022
World Bank Group	November 9, 2022
Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GiZ)	November 9, 2022
	February 15, 2023
Kazakh Export	November 25, 2022
Atameken	November 28, 2022
Ministry of Trade and Integration	February 15, 2023
European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD)	June 16, 2023
Aktau Port	June 26, 2023
Mangystau Akimat	June 27, 2023
Semurg Invest LLP	June 27, 2023
QazIndustry	June 30, 2023

The OECD regularly discussed preliminary findings and recommendations during working-group meetings in Astana, Kazakhstan. Three working groups (WG) brought together representatives from the government of Kazakhstan, business associations, embassies, private sector representatives, and development partners throughout the project (Table A.2). During each WG, the OECD presented and discussed preliminary findings and recommendations with participants, and gathered additional information.

Table A.2. Overview of working groups

Agenda of meetings	Key participants	Date
Launch event, discussion of initial Kazakhstan TFI findings, discussion of initial findings and recommendations on the export promotion framework chapter	Government of Kazakhstan and key public actors including Ministry of Trade and Integration, Ministry of National Economy, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Digital Development, Innovation and Aerospace Industry, Ministry of Industry and Infrastructure Development, QazTrade, QazIndustry, Kazakh Export, Kazakh Invest International development partners and private sector representatives including GiZ, EU Embassies, Atameken, Chamber of International Commerce	9 November 2022
Discussion of updates on Kazakhstan TFIs and initial Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan TFIs, presentation of updated export promotion framework findings and recommendations and initial ones for the one-stop shop chapter		15 February 2023
Presentation of updates on the one-stop shop chapter and discussion of preliminary findings and recommendations of the cross-border co-operation chapter		30 June 2023