In Bangkok discussed preparations for the 12th Ministerial conference of the WTO

Representatives of the Ministry of trade and integration of the Republic of Kazakhstan took part in regional consultations in Bangkok (Kingdom of Thailand) in preparation for the 12th Ministerial conference of the world trade organization (MC12).

On December 2-3, 2019 in Bangkok at the headquarters of the UN Economic and social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), representatives of the Ministry of trade and integration participated in regional consultations dedicated to the upcoming largest event in Kazakhstan in the field of international trade-MC12, which will be held in Nur-Sultan from 8 to 11 June 2020.

During the consultations, the expected issues of the Conference as well as the current stage of preparation were discussed.

As announced by the representatives of the Ministry, the main negotiating directions of the ic12 agenda Are: reforming the WTO, new global rules in the field of regulation of services, promotion of investment and e-Commerce, as well as negotiations on subsidies for fisheries.

The MC12 is expected to provide a platform for identifying the current dynamics of negotiations and possible innovative proposals for reforming the global trade regime in the context of the objective of accelerating progress towards the sustainable development goals.

Despite the problematic issues in the WTO, Kazakhstan, as host of the MC12, was confident that many of them can be solved within the framework of the upcoming conference due to the flexibility of participants and improve the system as a whole.

In addition to discussions on preparations for MC12, the ESCAP Secretariat organized a capacity-building session on the application of new tools to facilitate decision-making on trade policy options.

Representatives of government agencies, international organizations,civil society and business in the Asia-Pacific region also participate in the Consultations.

For reference: the Ministerial conference is the highest governing body of the WTO, which meets every two years. The competence of the authority includes the right to make decisions on all issues within the framework of multilateral trade agreements, including the approval of new disciplines governing international trade.