Kazakhstan: Potato Growers’ Union Signs Memorandum with Belgium’s DeWulf at Astana Business Council

Kazakhstan’s potato sector has taken a step toward building domestic processing with the signing of a trilateral memorandum between the Union of Potato and Vegetable Growers of Kazakhstan, Eurasian Group AG and Belgian machinery company DeWulf NV. The deal was concluded during the fourth Kazakhstan-Belgium Business Council in Astana, attended by President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and King Philippe of Belgium, APK Novosti reported, with FreshPlaza and EastFruit also carrying the story.

“Kazakhstan and Belgium are opening new prospects for cooperation in the potato industry,” Bayzhan Ualkhanov, head of the growers’ union, told APK Novosti. He described the memorandum as an important step toward a long-term strategic partnership in potato production and processing, the adoption of modern agricultural technology and the attraction of investment.

The cooperation centres on the Belgian agro-industrial cluster model, in which processing plants are tightly integrated with growers, research institutions and seed companies. Priority areas include developing modern clusters, attracting investment into processing facilities, introducing improved cultivation and storage technology, and expanding domestic seed multiplication. The partners also plan to introduce higher-yielding potato varieties with resistance to diseases and weather stress.

The strategic goal is to move the industry away from selling cheap raw material toward an integrated system producing competitive, higher-value output — a familiar objective for Kazakh agriculture. The country expects a potato harvest of about 2.8 million tonnes in 2026, according to official statements quoted earlier this month, and has repeatedly said it sees no need for export restrictions.

The potato memorandum was one of 16 cooperation documents signed around the council, nine of them covering the agri-food sector, Kazakh Invest said in a statement carried by DairyNews. Agricultural supply agreements between the two countries are worth more than €40 million in total; a separate agreement with DeWulf covers the modernisation of Kazakhstan’s potato sector. Other Belgian companies, including Vandeputte, Scaldis and Linagro, agreed to buy Kazakh flaxseed, with Belgium the largest EU buyer of that crop.

Belgium runs one of the world’s most developed potato processing industries and is a leading exporter of high-value processed potato products, so its cluster model is a logical reference point. For Kazakh growers, the test will be whether memorandum-level cooperation turns into funded processing capacity and a certified seed system, the two bottlenecks that have kept the country in the raw-export role it now wants to leave.

Sources: APK Novosti; FreshPlaza (via EastFruit); DairyNews.