Kazakhstan is a small, but growing part of the global market for Norwegian seafood. Direct exports of Norwegian fish to Kazakhstan amounted to 40107 tons in 2013. About half of all seafood products imported to Kazakhstan are of Norwegian origin.
In the coming years, Norway hopes to increase its exports of seafood products, both fresh and frozen, to Kazakhstan. The Norwegian seafood council office in Moscow assists the Norwegian embassy in its efforts to promote Norwegian seafood products:
Since 2012, the embassy has been actively and regularly involved in the promotion Norwegian seafood. A number of activities take place. On more than 20 occasions to date, the embassy’s chef, Ms. Tamara Yermolina has held master classes for students and pupils at professional colleges across Kazakhstan. As seafood is not a part of the traditional Kazakhstani diet, the aim of the exercise is to familiarize future chefs with the many exciting possibilities on offer. Ms. Yermolina is an experienced chef with excellent presentation skills who knows how to captivate her audience. Usually, one of the Norwegian diplomats, who also makes a presentation about Norway for the students, introduces her. In addition, in 2012 and 2013, Norwegian chef Per Schirenbeck held master-classes for a select audience of importers and representatives of the hospitality business in Almaty and Astana. It is important for us to familiarize Kazakhstan with different ways of cooking and preparing Norwegian fish. In 2013, the embassy organized a press-tour to Norway for a TV-crew from the national television channel Khabar, centered around seafood and Norwegian maritime traditions. A series of morning shows devoted to the preparation of Norwegian seafood were broadcast to a large audience across Kazakhstan. Furthermore, many people in Kazakhstan have expressed an interest in deep-sea tourism in Norway.
At the political level, the subject of Norwegian fish-exports to Kazakhstan was last raised by Mr. Trond Giske, then Minister of Trade and Industry, who participated at the Astana Economic Forum and met with three of his Kazakhstani counterparts on 24 May 2013. The subject was also raised by Mr. Jan Farberg, Director General at the Ministry of Trade and Industry and head negotiator of the ongoing EFTA-RUBEKA free-trade negotiations during his visit to Astana in January 2014. In addition, the accredited Norwegian diplomats posted in Astana regularly raise the subject.
Fish is transported from Norway to Kazakhstan in a number of different ways. One of the most usual routes is for frozen fish to be shipped to Klaipede (Lithuania) and then transported further by road to Kazakhstan. Fresh fish is usually flown in directly, but the market for fresh fish remains underdeveloped.
Norwegian veterinary authorities have already been in contact with their Kazakhstani counterparts on two separate occasions, in 2006 and 2011. We believe more regular and direct cooperation between the veterinary authorities of our two countries would be very helpful to overcome existing bureaucratic challenges. We therefore welcomed the visit of the joint delegation of Russian-Belarussian-Kazakhstani veterinary authorities to Norway in the spring of 2012.
Traditionally, herring and mackerel have been the species most sought after by Kazakhstani customers, but in later years, salmon has grown increasingly popular and now constitutes half the volume and more than three-quarters of value.
Below you can find the contact information for some of the main importers of Norwegian fish in Kazakhstan.The embassy has been in contact with all these importers directly. Please contact the embassy if you want your company to added to the list.