World Trade Organization approves Kazakhstan’s membership

The northern Central Asian nation is expected to officially become the 162nd member of the WTO by the end of 2015, once all the procedural formalities have been dealt with.

“Today is a truly historic day”, Nazarbayev said in his address to the plenary session of the WTO General Council, the highest decision-making organ of the body, which had just adopted the accession protocol. The EU has played a very important role in this process, being at the forefront in developing innovative and creative solutions to pave the way for Kazakhstan’s accession to the WTO.

Analysts have said that in the short term, Kazakhstan’s WTO accession will likely serve as a public relations boon for the government, but a dramatic or immediate impact on the ground is unlikely.

“The economy has grown nearly twentyfold since independence”, he said, adding that the country will be able to further its economic ambitions thanks to its new WTO membership.

The EU has strongly and continuously supported Kazakhstan’s accession to the WTO and the country’s determination in its commitment to open trade and investment is rewarded today.’. Under its WTO accession terms, Kazakhstan will gradually discontinue the exemptions on which the lower tariffs are based and eventually align rates with those of the European Union, it said.

It also has to bring its own laws into line with WTO rules, ensuring that trade partners can rely on it to enforce global trade disciplines, keep tariffs within agreed limits, and not protect domestic producers by discriminating unfairly against competing imports. Exports from the EU are dominated by machinery and transport equipment, as well as products within the manufacturing and chemicals sectors.

Astana sees accession as crucial to its bid to wean Kazakhstan’s economy off its dependence on oil and gas.