Kazakhstan participated in Trade Policy Review of the European Union

ASTANA. KAZINFORM - On 5th and 7th July 2017, a meeting of the WTO's Trade Policy Review Body was held, during which the trade policy and practice of the European Union were discussed. Deliberations were held on the basis of reports prepared by the European Commission and the WTO Secretariat, Kazinform has learnt from the press service of the Kazakh MFA. 

The reports noted that the European Union remains to be one of the largest participants in the global economy and international trade. The EU continues to play an important role in the multilateral trading system, while maintaining open and transparent economy.

The Permanent Representative of the Republic 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 the Republic 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 bln US dollars, which represented 52% of the total annual volume of investments attracted to the economy of Kazakhstan. In her statement Zhanar 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.

One of the main objectives of the WTO is to ensure a stable and predictable trading space. The Trade Policy Review Mechanism is designed to assist WTO Members in achieving this goal by ensuring the transparency of trade policies of WTO member-states and assessing its impact on international trade in general.