Akhmetov, governor of the East Kazakhstan, pointed out at a press meeting that, the production potential of the organic and green food in the East Kazakhstan is huge and the products are widely needed in the domestic and foreign markets. East Kazakhstan accounts for 62.3% of the total output value of the animal husbandry in the Kazakhstan. The output of the milk, honey, pilose antler and sunflower seed oil ranks the first throughout the country, and meat production ranks the second.

Akhmetov pointed out that the direction of the agricultural development in the East Kazakhstan is to realize the transformation from planting to export-oriented industries, with the focus on the soybean production. The annual demand for the soybean in China reaches 97 million tons (approximately $ 60 billion), the domestic output is less than 1/9 of the demand, and the planting area is difficult to expand. East Kazakhstan is adjacent to Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region and has great potential to expand the soybean output and export. Corn is another focus of the agricultural development in the East Kazakhstan. Since 2017, demand for the corn in Chinese market has soared, with a yield gap of 12.4 million tons, thus leading to higher prices and active imports. China imports approximately 3 million tons of the corn every year. To enter the Chinese market, the East Kazakhstan plans to increase the sown area of the corn to 10,200 hectares by 2020 (up 57% from 2019), to 12,800 hectares by 2024, with a yield of 32,100t.

Akhmetov expressed that the East Kazakhstan has drawn up a plan to expand the planting area of soybeans and corn. By 2024, the planting area will be increased by 3.2 times, the output will be increased by 5.5 times, and the export will be increased by 9 times. The soybean and corn production is of the strategic significance to the East Kazakhstan and even Kazakhstan.