ASTANA (TCA) — Kazakhstan last week participated in a meeting of the WTO’s Trade Policy Review Body, during which the trade policy and practice of the European Union were discussed on the basis of reports prepared by the European Commission and the WTO Secretariat, the Kazakh Foreign Ministry reported.
The Permanent Representative of Kazakhstan to the UN and other international organizations in Geneva, Ambassador Zhanar Aitzhanova noted in her statement that close trade and economic ties were established between Kazakhstan and the European Union. The European Union is the main trade partner of Kazakhstan. In 2016, trade with the EU member states accounted for 50% of the total external trade turnover of the country, whereas gross inflow of direct investments totaled $10.7 billion US dollars, which represented 52% of the total annual volume of investments attracted to the economy of Kazakhstan.
Aitzhanova also expressed concerns in relation to the draft amendments to the EU anti-dumping investigations rules and informed that Kazakhstan intends to conduct further discussions on this issue in a bilateral form. In this regard the representative of Kazakhstan expressed hope that the application of the new rules will not create unnecessary barriers to the bilateral trade between Kazakhstan and the EU.
In addition, Ambassador Aitzhanova informed the participants about the Enhanced Partnership and Cooperation Agreement signed between Kazakhstan and the EU, which provides for deepening cooperation in such areas as investment, trade development, infrastructure, innovation, culture, tourism, law enforcement. In this context, she emphasized the trade and investment component of the Agreement, within which Kazakhstan has provided European companies with favorable conditions for investing in Kazakhstan’s economy, including in strategic sectors such as subsoil use, transport infrastructure and services.
