On June 10, International Islamic Food Processing Association (“IFPA”) and the Farmers Association of Kazakhstan (“Association) held a virtual meeting with the participation of H.E. Sheikh Bilal Khan, Director General and CEO of IFPA, and Mr. Dairabayev Zhiguli, the Chairman of the Association. The online meeting was attended by the operational staff of the IFPA and representatives of the Association.

The parties presented their activities and discussed current issues and prospects for further cooperation in the agri-food sector especially with the Association’s wide reach across all the regions of Kazakhstan since 2003 with its membership consisting of 52,000 farmers. Particular attention was paid to the interaction of the entities in the sphere of new export market opportunities with IFPA potentially facilitating various structured Islamic financial and investment instruments for the farmers’ businesses for their continued stability and sustainability.

As the main platform of farmers in Kazakhstan, the Association  expressed its willingness for close cooperation with IFPA and the parties agreed to sign a mutual agreement whereby the Association will join IFPA as a valuable honorary member which will offer the opportunity to its members to have access to all privileges and benefits of IFPA as corporate members and the eligibility to receive IFPA’s special services in attracting Islamic investments and financing and the assistance to increase the volume of exports of the farmers belonging to the Association with penetration into 57 member countries of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, as well as promoting and advocating forthe farmers’ rights, sharing advanced developments and industry know-how.