Kazakhstan’s Prime Minister Karim Massimov meets Russian Minister of Industry and Trade Viktor Khristenko

Kazakhstan’s Prime Minister Karim Massimov met Russian Minister of Industry and Trade Viktor Khristenko in Astana to discuss prospects of the bilateral trade and economic cooperation between the two nations. “I have met Viktor Khristenko, Russian Minister of Industry and Trade. During the talks we discussed bilateral trade and economic ties and interaction within the Customs Union and the forthcoming Single Economic Space”, Massimov wrote in his Twitter account following the talks. “We also exchanged opinions on innovation and technology cooperation between research centers of the two nations”, he wrote in his Facebook. “A positive result of the Customs Union is growth of Russian direct investments by 0.5% and registration of over 400 Russian enterprises in Kazakhstan for the last few months”, Prime Minister’s web site quoted Ms. Zhanar Aitzhanova, Minister for Economic Integration May 23. Kazakhstan’s exports to the Customs Union states in the Q1 2011 grew by 57.2% as compared to the like period of 2010, the Agency for Statistics reported earlier. Exports for the period totaled $ 1.9 billion.Kazakhstan’s imports from the Customs Union grew by 46.7%, reaching $3.2 billion.