BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 12. Kazakhstan is steadily increasing its position as an economic partner of Spain, a source at Spain's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Union, and Cooperation told Trend.
"Kazakhstan is steadily increasing its position as an economic partner of Spain. According to Spanish data, Spanish exports amounted to 363 million euros in 2023, an increase of 80 percent compared to the 201 million euros of 2022, which was already a 78 percent increase compared to 2021," the source said.
According to the source, Spanish exports were quite diversified, covering a wide range of categories, from airplanes to transport equipment, machinery and mechanical appliances, vehicles, or fashion.
"The number of Spanish companies regularly exporting to Kazakhstan is 235, and those present in Kazakhstan employ approximately nine thousand people in the country directly, not counting indirect jobs. Concerning Spanish imports from Kazakhstan, these amounted to 1.971 million euros in 2023, a 30 percent decrease from the 2.830 million euros in 2022," the ministry said.
As the ministry noted, Spanish imports from Kazakhstan are concentrated in hydrocarbons, which represented 96 percent of the imports in 2023, a year when energy prices have decreased. Kazakhstan was the 7th supplier of oil for Spain in 2023.
"As you can tell from these statistics, our cooperation has been increasing, and as Spain and Kazakhstan have a very strong relationship, we are sure that the trend will be positive in the following months," the source noted.