The inaugural shipment of Kazakh wheat for the Vietnamese market arrived at the seaport of Ho Chi Minh City on March 4. This pilot delivery was carried out by KTZ Express, a subsidiary of the national railways company Kazakhstan Temir Zholy (KTZ), and China-Kazakhstan International Logistics Company Lianyungang LLC, the official website of the Prime Minister of Kazakhstan reported.
The Embassy of Kazakhstan in Vietnam organized a solemn ceremony of a meeting at the seaport of the vessel with Kazakh wheat. The Ambassador of Kazakhstan Beketzhan Zhumakhanov took part in the meeting. The ceremony was also attended by the General Director of Vietnam International Container Terminals (VICT) Glen Kong Wai Keong, General Director of the Lianyungang China-Kazakhstan International Logistics Company Liu Bin, and representatives of the Vietnamese grain buyer company.
In his speech, Ambassador Zhumakhanov said that the main task was not only to deliver this cargo to Vietnam, but also to test the route of delivery of goods to Southeast Asia through the territory of China. Now Kazakhstan can both export its products, and also transit goods from other countries of the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) to Vietnam and other countries of the Southeast Asia along the Kazakhstan-Lianyungang (China)-Vietnam transport corridor.
Liu Bin, representative of the China-Kazakhstan terminal at the port of Lianyungang, stressed that wheat from Kazakhstan would enter the market of the Southeast Asia through the territory of China for the first time, which marked the official opening of the transit corridor for the export of food grain from Kazakhstan through China.
The Vietnamese company that purchased this batch of wheat (720 tons) intends to test its quality and, in case of a positive result, will increase the import volume.
An agreement was recently reached on a free trade zone between the EEU and Vietnam. (UkrAgroConsult/Business World Magazine)
