Kazakhstan has finalized negotiations on its WTO membership terms that have been going on for almost 20 years.
"The draft WTO Accession Package will be submitted to members for formal approval when the meeting reconvenes on 22 June, then it will be submitted for the approval of the General Council," the press-service of the WTO said.
"I congratulate WTO members and the government of the Republic of Kazakhstan on the historic step taken today," the Director-General of the WTO, Roberto Azevedo, said.
Working Party members, in their turn, welcomed the conclusion of "one of the most challenging negotiations" in the 20-year history of the WTO. The chairperson of the Working Group, Finnish Ambassador Vesa Himanen, congratulated the head of the Kazakh delegation, Minister for Economic Integration, Zhanar Aitzhanova, on "a historic achievement."
"The complexity and uniqueness of Kazakhstan’s accession lies in the negotiations on tariff adjustment due to Kazakhstan’s membership of the Eurasian Economic Union, TASS reports with reference to the press service of the organization.
Kazakhstan applied for WTO membership back on January 29, 1996.
The editor-in-chief of Mir Yevrazii magazine, Eduard Poletayev, told Vestnik Kavkaza that that it's only the negotiating process that has ended at this stage, adding that they still need the approval of the General Council of the WTO.
According to him, Kazakhstan primarily sees WTO membership as a way of improving its trading capacity, as it is positioning itself as a country with a market economy. "The Kazakh government is considering membership of the WTO as a very important factor for access of Kazakh products to world markets. This means improving competitiveness, developinh Kazakhstan's business, increasing foreign investment, and so on," the analyst said.
However, he expressed the opinion that Kazakhstan's delay in joining the organization could mean that the country was just trying to promote its interests. "WTO membership is prestigious for Kazakhstan. It is a political issue, because Kazakhstan is positioning itself as a leader in Central Asia, which cannot be outside the WTO, since a large part of the world are members of it," the political scientist said.
"Of course, agricultural and light industry may be affected. For example, if other countries of the organization produce cheaper goods and in large quantities, local manufacturers could not cope with the competition. As happened in Kyrgyzstan. Risks exist, but the major markets, which are the major share of the GDP of Kazakhstan, will win. The consumers will also benefit, because some of the goods should be cheaper: medicinal products, automobiles, electronic equipment, clothing and some food products," the editor-in-chief of Mir Yevrazii magazine concluded.
