THIS CONTENT HAS BEEN ARCHIVED

EU-Kazakhstan trade and business cooperation development discussed in Astana

29.03.2017
Text

ASTANA – Today the first workshop on "Implementation of the EPCA: Challenges and Opportunities to Kazakhstan and EU business" was held in Astana. The event was attended by representatives of the EU General Directorate for Trade, Kazakhstani state officials, European and Kazakhstani business and diplomatic corps.

 

The event was organised in the framework of European Union funded project “Implementation and awareness raising of the trade and business chapters of the Enhanced Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (EPCA) and of Kazakhstan’s membership in the WTO”, which aims to identify the legal gaps in the specific areas covered by trade and business chapters. In particular, including trade in services, establishment and operation of companies, government procurement, capital movement, intellectual property rights, customs, sanitary and phytosanitary measures and standards and to elaborate the actions needed for effective implementation of the EPCA provisions.

 

During the workshop the participants were briefed on the recent legal and practical developments in the areas covered by the Agreement, its' objectives of trade facilitation, benefits of the Agreement, as well as on commitments already undertaken by Kazakhstan upon the WTO accession and membership in the Eurasian Economic Union, focusing on benefits of an effective implementation of the EPCA to the benefit of businesses in the European Union and in Kazakhstan.

 

The study which will continue its activities until February 2018 is carried out within the EU-funded project ''Implementation and awareness raising of the trade and business chapters of the EU-Kazakhstan EPCA and of Kazakhstan`s membership in the WTO'' under the EU Partnership Instrument. The second workshop is planned for June 2016 in Almaty.

 

Background information

The Enhanced Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (EPCA) between the EU and Kazakhstan was signed on 21 December 2015 in Astana and entered into provisional application on May 1 2016. The Agreement upgrades trade cooperation with a commitment to ensure the application of fundamental WTO rules and principles in bilateral trade relations between Kazakhstan and the EU. This will ensure a better regulatory environment for the economic operators in areas such as trade in services, the establishment and operation of companies, capital movements, procurement and intellectual property rights. Over the past decades, the EU has become Kazakhstan’s first trading partner with almost 40% of the total Kazakhstan foreign trade turnover in 2016 and first foreign investor, representing over half of total FDI in Kazakhstan. Bilateral trade amounts to above EUR 31 bln.

 

For further details please contact Ms Elnara Bainazarova, Press and Information Officer of the EU Delegation to Kazakhstan: + 7 (7172) 974567, e-mail: elnara.bainazarova@eeas.europa.eu

Category
Press releases
Location

Astana

Editorial sections
Kazakhstan