Kazakhstan has proposed a meeting with Ukraine in the second half of this year to discuss formulation of a harmonized tariff policy on freight transportation on the Viking and Zubr trains. The maritime component of freight transportation is expected to be taken into account during determination of the tariff. The press service of the Ministry of Infrastructure announced this in a statement.

Ways of increasing the volume of transportation from China through Kazakhstan to Belarus, including transportation on transit to Western Europe, were discussed at a meeting of the Ukrainian-Kazakh commission on economic cooperation on 15 July.

The Ukrainian side also proposed increasing the authorized number of flights between the two countries. Currently, airlines from Ukraine are fulling using their quota for flights to Astana and Almaty (14 flights per week), and there is a need to increase the numbers of flights and destinations. The Kazakh side agreed to review the operation of flights and hold consultations before the end of 2015.

The talks also touched on trucking between Kazakhstan and Ukraine, as well as on transit to Western Europe. The parties are discussing the possibility of increasing the quotas for trucking companies.

Officials from the relevant departments of the Ukrainian Ministry of Infrastructure, the State Road Transport Safety Inspectorate (Ukrtransinspektsia), and the State Aviation Service participated in the meeting with the representatives of Kazakhstan.

Kazakhstan has recently been implementing a number of projects aimed at improving its logistical capabilities. In particular, it is constructing a highway from Dostyk to Aktau and a railway line from Zhezkazgan to Beineu. According government plans, the capacities of the Dostyk and Altynkol stations will almost double from 22.7 million to 45 million tons by the year 2020 and the capacity of the Aktau port will increase to at least 22 million tons, the Vedomost publication reports. There is even the idea of building a road-rail bridge from Kazakhstan to the Caucasus with concurrent laying of oil and gas pipes. The project will possibly be implemented by Dubai Port World, the most diversified logistics operator in the world with 60 ports and terminals in operation and 11 under construction in 31 countries.

The country’s central bank is overseeing the creation of an international financial center in Astana similar to the one in Dubai - with an independent administration, judicial authorities based on the principles of British law, and with English as the main language.

Kazakhstan ranked 50th in the Global Competitiveness Index in 2014 (up from 61st in 2005 and 66th in 2009).