Back to Kazakhstan!
Managing Director of Kazopp, Graham Potts is back in Kazakhstan this week, busy building links for our UK partner companies – so here’s a few insights into his travels!
Kazakhstan is a vast country – at 2.7 million square kilometres, it’s the world’s largest landlocked country as well as being the ninth largest country in the world.
So travelling around is pretty time consuming, even with internal flights! Here’s a little insight into the sheer scale of the country compared to the UK. The UK is dwarfed by the area of Kazakhstan, which is in fact larger than the whole of Western Europe and almost the size of the United State of America!
Roads may be long, but lunch stops are all the more welcome! Here’s one at Kulsary on the way to Tengiz.
Although the toilet stops may not always be the best…!
Or the most fragrant… 
Joking aside, Kazakhstan is also a land of opportunity for the potential exporter – one of the most significant oil and gas industries in the global market, not to mention a wealth of other natural resources equates to multitude of export opportunities if you have the right product or technology or service.
A recent article in SME Insider looked at the enormous benefits of exporting for UK SMEs – it’s well worth a read. Predicting that over 350,000 small businesses will begin exporting internationally in the next twelve months, it acknowledged that many will turn to UKTI for help, quoting one business owner who said,
‘‘When you travel with the UKTI, you receive great advice from experts coming from the relevant sectors who tell you how to do business in certain countries. You learn about many different things, including the legal system, accounting procedures and many different aspects of trading in another country.’’
But whilst high profile trade missions might grab the headlines, will they actually bring a small business to the point of sealing their first export deal and be there to provide ongoing support as companies begin doing business with foreign partners?
That’s where a company like Kazopp can come into its own – being able to benefit from detailed and up to date business knowledge and a network of established contacts means that all the time consuming leg work has been done for you – all that’s left is to agree orders and ensure delivery. Simple.
For more information on becoming the next business to export to Kazakhstan with us, get in touch.