ASTANA – Kazakhstan is preparing new support to place domestically produced goods in major foreign retail chains as the country seeks to build on rising nonresource exports and shift sales toward higher-value finished products. Nonresource exports increased 14.5% in the first five months of 2026 to $11.8 billion, while around 44% of goods produced in Kazakhstan are now sold abroad, Trade and Integration Minister Arman Shakkaliyev said at an Aug.
4 government meeting. “The priority is to strengthen support for exports and expand export markets, primarily to the Eurasian Economic Union, Central Asia, the Middle East, Europe, and China. To this end, approximately 10 trade and economic missions are conducted annually, involving more than 300 Kazakh exporters.
To nurture new exporters, 120 companies participate in the export acceleration program each year,” said the minister. Financial support to exporters is also expanding. The Export Credit Agency provided more than 400 billion tenge (US$850.3 million) in insurance support in the first half of the year and Shakkaliyev said the figure is expected to reach 1.2 trillion tenge (US$2.6 billion) by the year’s end.
The government also allocates around six billion tenge annually to reimburse exporters’ logistics costs. According to Shakkaliyev, over the past five years, exports of higher-processed goods have increased 2.5 times, from $4.2 billion to $11.1 billion, and now account for 38.8% of nonresource exports.
The next step is to promote finished Kazakh products abroad. The government is developing a new support measure to help domestic goods secure shelf space in major international retail chains, including Lulu Hypermarket, Carrefour, Gross, Panda and Spinneys. Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov instructed the Trade Ministry and other state bodies to identify priority countries, foreign retail chains and product groups.
They are expected to develop measures covering certification, logistics, promotion and product placement. The export push is closely linked to the government’s efforts to strengthen domestic producers at home. Officials said that stable demand through public procurement, national companies and local retail chains can give Kazakh manufacturers the scale needed to compete abroad.
Bektenov noted Kazakhstan had established the main instruments for supporting domestic manufacturers, including tax incentives, state financing and priority access to national and infrastructure projects. “It is now necessary to ensure steady growth in the share of domestic products in the domestic market and to expand exports of Kazakh goods,” said Bektenov.
Supporting production is not enough when domestic companies cannot secure predictable buyers and the government is now trying to close that gap through public procurement, guaranteed purchase agreements and greater access to retail networks. Bektenov also instructed the Trade and Integration Ministry to develop within one month a comprehensive program to promote goods under the Made in Kazakhstan brand.
Officials are also expected to identify priority product categories and establish targets for increasing the share of domestic goods in each one.