ALMATY (TCA) — On October 24, Prime Minister of Kazakhstan Bakytzhan Sagintayev took part in the opening ceremony of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Eurasian Week 2017 forum in Almaty and addressed the participants with a welcoming speech, the official website of the Prime Minister of Kazakhstan reported.
OECD is an international economic association of the most competitive countries, interacting on the principles of democracy and a free market economy. The OECD’s origins date back to 1960, when 18 European countries plus the United States and Canada joined forces to create an organization dedicated to economic development. Today, its 35 member countries span the globe, from North and South America to Europe and Asia-Pacific. They include many of the world’s most advanced countries but also emerging countries like Mexico, Chile and Turkey.
Kazakhstan’s cooperation with the OECD has been carried out since 2008 within the framework of the Eurasian Competitiveness Program (ECP), which is attended by 13 countries of Central Asia, the Caucasus and Eastern Europe.
The main event of OECD within the framework of the ECP is the final annual event – the Eurasian Week, where representatives of 35 OECD countries meet with partner countries of the Eurasian continent to discuss ways to strengthen relations. As a result of last year’s Eurasian Week in Paris, Kazakhstan was chosen as the country for holding the session in 2017.
In his speech at the opening ceremony, Bakytzhan Sagintayev noted that Kazakhstan supports the integration processes for the development of the economy and trade throughout the Eurasian space. In this regard, the country intends to continue contributing to the enhancement of the sustainability of social and economic development in Eurasia, building up a modern export policy and stimulating innovative entrepreneurial activity with direct cooperation with the OECD.
In Sagintayev’s words, the trade between Kazakhstan with OECD countries comprises almost a half (50.9%) of the country’s total commodity turnover.
He said there is a huge potential for cooperation between the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) and OECD countries, and Kazakhstan strives to strengthen it through the development of transport and transit potential of the region.
“Our country supports the development of the One Belt, One Road international mega-project, and is ready for full-fledged integration with the New Silk Road. We have fully completed the Kazakh part of the Transcontinental international automobile road Western Europe – Western China, which is capable to serve as the main route for cargo shipping in Central Asia. We have constructed a new railroad connecting Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Iran – another transit corridor to enter the markets of the Middle East. These are the new opportunities of economic cooperation between countries of the region and the OECD,” the Kazakh Prime Minister said.
