In order to expand trade between countries

Today, within the framework of the Astana International Forum, a large panel session was held dedicated to strengthening the integration of Central Asia into world trade.  The session raised issues of the development of the digital economy and the introduction of green technologies.

«As a landlocked region with a developing economy, Central Asia fully supports the trend towards digitalization and is ready to take advantage of its growing opportunities. Our region is becoming more and more visible on the world economic arena. We expect that in the near future several Central Asian countries will join the World Trade Organization and become full-fledged and active participants in the international trade community», - Vice Minister of Trade and Integration of Kazakhstan Kairat Torebayev said during his speech.

According to the Vice Minister, just a few days ago, together with the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UN), a project was officially launched to assess regulatory and procedural barriers to trade in the Republic of Kazakhstan. The project is a timely response to the current challenges faced by Kazakhstan and the Central Asian region.

Within the framework of cooperation with the OECD, the Ministry of Trade and Integration is implementing the second phase of the project «Development of trade relations in Kazakhstan and Central Asia». The study will complement the assessment of problems in the field of trade and transport logistics and cargo transportation conducted by the OECD as part of the First phase of the project in 2019, which focused on transport connectivity of Central Asian countries.

«We appreciate that the simplification of trade procedures is in the focus of the attention of the OECD, the UNECE and ESCAP. All projects complement each other. According to our experts, the implementation of the recommendations of the UNECE and the OECD and the transition to paperless trade lead to a 30% increase in trade turnover in the medium term, and, of course, moving in this direction is a priority for us», - Kairat Torebayev said.

At the end of his speech, the Vice Minister noted that Kazakhstan is ready to work on setting and achieving high standards, as well as raising the bar together with trading partners, in creating relationships between trade and sustainable development.