Psbs Told To Step Up Kazakh Presence

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) wants state-run banks to step up their presence in Kazakhstan. This is significant in the context of Afghanistan developments.

RBI deputy governor G Muniappan, at a meeting on Saturday with public sector bankers, asked the banks to start correspondent banking relationships in Kazakhstan in view of increasing Indo-Kazakh dealings.

The Indo-Kazakh bilateral trade currently stands at $63 million. The Punjab National Bank has already opened a representative office in Almaty in October 1998.

One of Kazakhstan's biggest private employer is the Ispat Karmet steel plant belonging to the Laxmi Mittal group. The plant was bought in 1996 for $380 million by Ispat. Ispat Karmet is now Kazakhstan's largest single employer and foreign exchange earner.

 

Kazakhstan, one of the CIS countries, is rich in mineral resources including oil, natural gas and coal. Rare minerals like chromium, vanadium, bismuth and zinc are also available.

Trade between the two countries is mainly confined to the traditional commodities which India used to supply to the former USSR. The main commodities being exported from India are tea, pharmaceuticals, woollen goods, leather goods, etc. Exports from Kazakhstan are restricted to wool, raw materials like hides & skins and small quantities of metals. Of late, gold and silver have been exported from Kazakhstan to India.

For India, the areas of potential trade with Kazakhstan includes pharmaceuticals, agriculture, food, machinery and construction.