EU-Kazakhstan trade cooperation discussed in Astana
On November 20-23 two workshops on technical barriers to trade and intellectual property rights with participation of EU leading public administration experts were held in Astana. The workshops were organised by the European Commission and the EU Delegation to Kazakhstan and funded through the Partnership Instrument, in close cooperation with the Government of Kazakhstan. The event aims to facilitate the implementation of the Enhanced Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (EPCA) between EU and Kazakhstan in the field of trade and investment.
The events gathered together more than 115 participants from Astana and other regions of Kazakhstan as well as representatives of the Ministry of National Economy, the Ministries of Justice and Investment and Development, the Ministry of Finance, the Supreme Court, the Customs, and the National institute of intellectual property of Kazakhstan.
Referring to the events, the Head of the EU Delegation to Kazakhstan, Ambassador Traian Hristea said: "These events demonstrate the commitment of the European Union to help Kazakhstan succeed in exploiting to the fullest the possibilities offered by the Enhanced Partnership Agreement. We are doing this very concretely, by having EU Member States experts sharing their experience and practices with their peers in Kazakhstan's administration to work together to strengthen our mutual trade and investment relations further".
The workshops' participants acquired deeper understanding of the EU legislation and best practices in technical regulation, accreditation, standardisation and metrology systems as well as intellectual property rights protection to assess which elements could be applied to Kazakhstan and EAEU environment.
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 of goods between the EU and Kazakhstan in Jan-Jul 2017 was worth euros 13.3 billion (31% increase as compared to the same period of 2016 according to Eurostat).
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.