Kazakhstan intends to produce shoes and clothing along with Italy

Kazakhstan firms are looking to produce shoes and clothing together with Italy, Tengrinews reports citing the President of Kazakhstan’s Association of Textile Industry Enterprises Lyubov Khudova.

“There are several options for cooperation in fashion industry including training of designers and technologists. Currently, Turkish and Chinese goods are dominating our market. We would like to train our own designers with the help of our Italian partners. We have submitted the project to our ministry and embassy. It is also suggested to establish joint ventures for the production of shoes and leather goods. For example, we have a factory that produces women’s tights using Italian equipment,” Lyubov Khudova said when talking to a Tengrinews journalist at the sidelines of the recent Kazakh-Italian business forum.

“Kazakhstan exports raw hides and imports finished products. We want to refocus, so that Kazakhstan would export finished products instead of raw materials. To do this we want to establish joint ventures for production of shoes, clothes and knitwear. We have the enterprises and the equipment, but we also need consultations of Italian experts and their know-how. Take Zara for example. Our dream is to enter those international trade networks and sew those collections and here (in Kazakhstan), it is real. We have competitive advantages that include the human potential and well-equipped garment factories,” she said.

Italy’s Vice Minister of Economic Development Carlo Calenda noted that Italy was consistently making investments into joint enterprises. “As for the fashion industry, we constantly invest into creation of joint ventures, mostly medium-sized ones. When our fashion companies go abroad, they tend to find local producers and set up a cooperation with them,” he said.

When opening the forum, Kazakhstan’s Prime Minister Karim Massimov emphasized that there were huge prospects for mutually beneficial cooperation between the two countries. "Kazakhstan is implementing a program of industrialization. It is working on introducing innovations and developing technologies. We appreciate the achievements and experience of Italy in many areas including agriculture, consumer goods industry, construction, energy and mining. We also hope that we will have an opportunity to widely use Italian innovative technologies and skills in our joint projects," Karim Massimov is quoted as saying by pm.kz. He added that Kazakhstan’s participation in the Eurasian Economic Union of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan created large investment opportunities for Italian companies.

Astana hosted the Kazakh-Italian business forum on November 9-12. An Italian delegation led by Italy’s Vice Minister of Economic Development Carlo Calenda consisted of representatives of 80 Italian companies engaged in agriculture, textile and construction. The Kazakh delegation at the event comprised 200 representatives of national companies and private enterprises.

Reporting by Asemgul Kasenova, writing by Assel Satubaldina, editing by Tatyana Kuzmina