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Kazakhstan to join WTO in official ceremony on Monday

All the leading global economies have recognized Kazakhstan to be a country with favorable investment climate, the Kazakhstani president says

ASTANA, July 27 /TASS/. An official ceremony of Kazakhstan’s entrance into the World Trade Organization (WTO) will take place in Geneva on Monday in the presence of Kazakhstani President Nursultan Nazarbayev.

Kazakhstan’s negotiations with WTO that had been under way for almost 20 years ended on June 10. In his address to the people, Nazarbayev called it a historic event. "This is a historic event for us. All the leading global economies have recognized Kazakhstan to be a country with favourable investment climate that pursues its trade policy in compliance with norms of international law," the Kazakhstani president said.

He recalled that Kazakhstan and the WTO had reached agreements on positions, which are the most sensitive for the republic’s economy. "Support for agriculture was one of the thorniest issues for discussion because they demanded that we reduce agricultural subsidies but we defended our stance," Nazarbayev said noting that markets of financial services and communications were also part of the agenda.

"We managed to combine the requirements of the WTO and the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) proceeding from our national interests," he stressed.

Kazakhstan’s parliament will have to ratify documents, which Kazakhstan is going to sign in Geneva on Monday, in the next six months. A decision on Kazakhstan’s accession to the WTO will take effect in the course of 30 days after Kazakhstan notifies the WTO of the ratification.

Twenty-one countries, including Azerbaijan, Belarus and Uzbekistan, are holding the accession talks with the WTO. Russia joined the WTO in 2012.

The World Trade Organization (WTO), comprising 161 states and territories, is an international body, which supervises global trade. Its main purpose is to further liberalize trade and guarantee fair conditions of competition. The WTO is the successor to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade that had been valid since 1947.