GENEVA, July 27. /TASS/. Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO) Roberto Azevedo expressed hope that Kazakhstan will take part in the 10th Ministerial Conference, which will be held by the trade body in Nairobi /Kenya/ from 15 to 18 December 2015, as its member-state, he said at a press conference after the ceremony of signing a protocol on Kazakhstan’s accession to the organization on Monday.

"Hopefully we will be able to confirm Kazakhstan’s membership at the conference in Nairobi as it will become the 162nd member of the organization. Unless it happens earlier," he said.

President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev and Roberto Azevedo signed a protocol on the country’s accession to the organization at a session of the WTO’s General Council, the organization’s highest-level decision-making body in Geneva on Monday. Nazarbayev said the Kazakh economy has seen major structural changes since talks on its accession to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) began almost 20 years ago. The Kazakh economy "has become stronger and more open" since negotiations began, he said. WTO member countries at the present account for more than 90% of the country's foreign trade. "In the mid-1990s, Kazakhstan had ties only with post-Soviet states, while now we are trading with 185 countries of the world," President added. Countries of the European Union are its main economic partners, accounting for more than 54% of Kazakhstan’s foreign trade, he said, noting also a "sizable contribution" of trade with Russia, China, the United States, Canada and some other countries.

The next step will be ratification of the protocol signed on Monday in Kazakhstan, which is expected to be finished by October 31. The decision on Kazakhstan’s accession to the WTO will come into force automatically after 30 days pass from the moment when the trade organization receives ratification confirmation.