Kazakhstan, U.S. complete WTO Talks on Market Access

    Kazakhstan and the United States have completed talks on access to Kazakhstan’s goods market, which signified the completion of the bilateral talks on Kazakhstan’s ambition to join the World Trade Organization, local media reported Wednesday.
    The two sides’ negotiations were concluded after Kazakh Economic Development Minister Zhanar Aitzhanova signed a document with U.S. representative to the WTO Michael Punke in Geneva on Monday, the report quoted a statement from the Kazakh Economic Development Ministry as saying.
    The United States is one of Kazakhstan’s main trading partners and the completion of the bilateral talks on goods is an important step in completing Kazakhstan’s WTO entry process,” the statement said.
    Kazakhstan submitted its application for joining the WTO in 1996.
    Deputy Economic Development Minister Timur Suleimenov said early November that Kazakhstan wanted to join the WTO in 2012.
    The ministry expects to complete WTO talks with another key trade partner, the European Union, before the year end. The only unsettled item in the two sides’ talks is the level of duties applied to raw material exports from Kazakhstan, Xinhua stated.