Italian food producers to open joint ventures in Kazakhstan

Almaty. 25 January. Interfax-Kazakhstan. Italian companies in the food sector are intending to create joint venture companies in Kazakhstan.

“Representatives of the Kazakh Ministries of Investment and Development and Agriculture have held a series of meetings with heads of major Italian food companies. The Italian businesses have expressed an interest in opening joint ventures in Kazakhstan to grow and process fruit and vegetables, and produce dairy products and organic fertilisers. The Italians are prepared to collaborate in creating innovative projects in the food industry as well as creating start-ups, selecting projects, creating business plans and sourcing funding for the projects,” said the Ministry of Investments and Development.

“Representatives of Italian companies intend to make a preliminary trip our country soon to meet Kazakh professionals and propose a series of projects to implement together,” said Asel Ergazieva, Deputy Chair of Kaznex Invest, the national export and investment agency, in a press release.

Granarolo, the largest producer of milk and dairy products in Italy with 15 production facilities in various countries, is open to the idea of creating joint ventures in Kazakhstan, creating a vertical chain for producing dairy products (milk, soft and hard cheese, mozzarella and ricotta, Parma ham, yoghurt and other dairy products). The company is also interested in exporting to Russia, China and Iran from Kazakhstan.

Ottaviani specialises in growing and processing vegetables (artichokes, asparagus, and broccoli). Growth in production is now limited in Italy due to the lack of land. Companies are therefore looking to Kazakhstan for producing and exporting goods. Ottaviani is prepared to build facilities to process and freeze vegetables, employing 300-2000 people each season.

Representatives of Italian companies “appreciated Kazakhstan’s huge potential for food industry development. According to specialists, there are now only 5 countries, including Kazakhstan, where potential can be developed and products can be put forward for export, closing the growing global demand for food,” the press release states.

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