ASTANA (TCA) — Kazakhstan’s Foreign Minister Kairat Abdrakhmanov has announced that the tools of economic diplomacy will be used to attract investment, develop the non-primary sector of the economy, ensure export-oriented industrialization and implement the transport, logistics, tourism and agro-industrial potential of the country. This was stated on October 16 at the meeting on the implementation of the President’s State of the Nation Address “Growing Welfare of Kazakh Citizens: Increase in Income and Quality of Life” at the Kazakh Foreign Ministry, the ministry reported.
“The head of state noted the need to intensify the trade policy of Kazakhstan for the effective promotion of our products on regional and world markets in the context of the changing rules of international trade,” said the Minister. Kazakhstan is intensifying its cooperation with the World Trade Organization. These objectives are to be attained by the 12th WTO Ministerial Conference in June 2020 in Astana. It is expected that the trade ministers of 164 member countries and 20 observer countries of the WTO will take part in the event. Kazakhstan will seek to ensure its interests are met in international and regional trade, especially in the field of agriculture. In addition, the WTO Ministerial Conference will focus the attention of the global expert and business community on Kazakhstan and the entire region of Central Asia.
“We need a more proactive trade strategy to promote domestic products to foreign markets. To do this, we must clearly know their needs and our capabilities, including the competitiveness of our products, work on certification and logistics of delivery to destinations. All foreign missions and structural units of the Ministry should be engaged in this work,” said the Minister.
Another priority for the Foreign Ministry is the development of new Eurasian logistics infrastructure. According to the President’s Address, Kazakhstan should become a key Eurasian transport and logistics hub connecting the countries of the CIS, the European Union, the Middle East and Southeast Asia. In this regard, the Foreign Ministry will assist government agencies in creating the necessary international legal framework and finding promising foreign partners, as well as in attracting funds from international financial institutions and private investors to implement projects.
In order to develop incoming and domestic tourism, further efforts will be taken to facilitate the visa regime for foreign citizens and expand the legal framework for establishing a favorable visa policy, the Minister said.
Speaking about the part of the Address concerning the assistance for rapid establishment and development of the Astana International Financial Centre, the Minister recalled that on October 8, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the AIFC signed a roadmap of cooperation. In order to implement it, the diplomatic corps of Kazakhstan will assist in establishing contacts between the AIFC and counterparties, provide support to the Centre’s efforts on Islamic finance, green technology and information campaigns.
The Minister also discussed the issue of Kazakhstan joining the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). “The work of Kazakhstan with the OECD is of crucial political importance, since none of the states of our region and the EEU is a member of this association and no country in the region is cooperating more actively with the Organization than our country. Today, Kazakhstan is represented in 35 OECD units,” Abdrakhmanov said.
