Visit of Minister Bakhyt Sultanov to the U.S.

On November 8-10, 2021, Kazakh delegation headed by the Minister of Trade and Integration Bakhyt Sultanov and the First Vice-Minister of Labor and Social Protection of the Population Akmadi Sarbasov, Vice-Minister of National Economy Alibek Kuantyrov, as well as Vice-Minister of Trade and Integration Kairat Torebayev paid a working visit to the United States.

As part of the visit, Minister Sultanov held meetings with the US Trade Representative, representatives of the US Department of Commerce, the United States International Development Finance Corporation (DFC), the US Agency for International Development, the Chamber of Commerce, as well as members of the Kazakh-American Business Council.

During negotiations with the US Trade Representative Katherine Tai, Minister Sultanov discussed the agenda of the upcoming 12th WTO Ministerial Conference and outlined Kazakhstan's position on each of the issues. The parties expressed their interest in working together to facilitate the adoption by the members of the organization of consensus decisions bringing the positions of countries and regions closer together.

In terms of bilateral trade relations, the importance of cooperation within the framework of the Trade and Investment Framework Agreement of the Central Asian countries was noted. Trade Representative Tai noted the important role of Kazakhstan in building bilateral and multilateral economic cooperation in the Central Asian region.

Minister Sultanov also brought to the attention of the US Trade Representative the importance of granting Kazakhstan the status of Permanent Normal Trade Relations (PNTR) to increase mutual trade.

During the meeting with Deputy Secretary of Commerce Don Graves, the parties agreed to continue and strengthen the dialogue in the field of diversification and building up of bilateral trade. Sultanov proposed to support the implementation of the 5-year country export program, as well as the integration of Kazakhstan into the strategic supply chains of the United States. Both of these proposals received support from the American side.

Members of the Kazakh-American Business Council, present at the meeting from Pfizer, Flour, Boeing, Citigroup, noted a favorable business climate, government measures to improve the regulatory environment and other conditions created for foreign investors in Kazakhstan.

During the meeting with the Vice-President of Valmont Joshua Dixon, further steps were discussed for the practical implementation of the investment project on irrigation equipment production of in Kazakhstan.

As part of the visit, negotiations were also held between Vice-Minister of Trade and Integration Torebaev, Vice-Minister of National Economy Kuantyrov with Director of the Office of Economic Sanctions Policy and Implementation Jim Mullinax, as well as with Acting Assistant Secretary of State for Economic and Business Affairs Erik Woodhouse. The parties discussed economic transformations in Kazakhstan and a practical approach to finding ways to conduct mutually beneficial trade relations. The American side also noted that it is open to discussing the issue of Kazakhstan's accession to the OECD.

Labor issues were the main topic of the meetings of the Kazakhstani delegation consisting of Sarbasov and Torebaev with Deputy Undersecretary for International Affairs at the U.S. Department of Labor Thea Lee, as well as with members of the US Department of State, Trade Representative and the US Department of Labor.

The Kazakh delegation also met with USAID Deputy Assistant Administrator Anjali Kaur, during which they discussed a number of issues, including the prospects for KazAID-USAID cooperation, Kazakhstan's potential in creating a regional logistics hub in Almaty, as well as strengthening the women’s economic empowerment.

Taking further steps to remove the Jackson-Vanik amendment was on agenda of a series of meetings in the US Congress.