OECD Experts Discuss Trade Facilitation in Kazakhstan and Central Asia

As part of cooperation between the Ministry of Trade and Integration of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the OECD, in May 2022, a new project was launched on improving trade connectivity in Kazakhstan and Central Asia.

On 15 February 2023, the Second Meeting of the Country Working Group was held, at which the OECD recommendations on the institutional framework for export promotion and the creation of a “one-stop shop” service for exporting small and medium-sized enterprises were discussed.

The meeting of the working group was attended by representatives of government agencies, ambassadors of OECD member countries, international organizations and export support institutions.

Vice Minister of Trade and Integration of the Republic of Kazakhstan Kairat Balykbaev addressed the participants of the Second Working Group with a welcoming speech.

“All Central Asia countries are steadily improving their positions in the OECD Trade Facilitation Index. Work on the preparation of the review is timely. The OECD recommendations for our countries will undoubtedly have a positive impact on trade not only in our countries, but throughout the Central Asian region”, the Vice Minister noted.

In turn, Deputy General Director of “QazTrade” Nurlan Kulbatyrov shared the latest trends in the development of foreign trade in the region, and also spoke about the trends in cross-border trade.

Luc Mackle and Dylan van de Ven, Economic Policy Analysts in the OECD Eurasia Division, presented examples of best practices in OECD member countries in strengthening the institutional framework for export promotion.

Also, OECD trade policy analyst Silvia Sorescu presented updated indicators in the field of trade facilitation in Central Asia.

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A number of bilateral meetings were held on trade policy issues in the Central Asian countries.

As Vice Minister Kairat Torebaev noted at a meeting with OECD experts, today the focus of trade integration has shifted to the regional level.

“The deepening of industrial cooperation and diversification of the structure of commodity flows, in our opinion, are priority areas for cooperation in the Central Asian region”, he said.

Later, an expert meeting was held with the Deputy Director of the Department of Foreign Trade Activity, Darkhan Beisenbay, at which key areas of trade facilitation in the Republic of Kazakhstan were discussed.

Reference:

The II stage of the project is aimed at strengthening trade connectivity between the countries of Central Asia. The objective of the project is to provide the six countries of Central Asia - Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan - with analytical and practical guidance on policies and tools that will allow them to maximize opportunities for expanding trade relations and international integration. The duration of the project is 2 years.