General Council approves Kazakhstan’s membership terms

WTO members formally adopted Kazakhstan’s WTO terms of entry at the General Council meeting on 27 July 2015, in the presence of Kazakhstan’s President Nursultan Nazarbayev. Kazakhstan will have until 31 October 2015 to ratify the deal to formally become a WTO member.

WTO Director-General Roberto Azevêdo and President Nazarbayev signed the Protocol on the Accession of Kazakhstan following the General Council’s approval of the country’s WTO terms of entry. The document is subject to domestic ratification by Kazakhstan’s Parliament by 31 October 2015.

According to Roberto Azevêdo, “This is a truly historic occasion for Kazakhstan, and for the WTO. In approving Kazakhstan’s accession protocol we are concluding almost two decades of negotiations. Moreover, we are delivering a result which will have a major economic impact, a major systemic impact, and a major human impact. Because, crucially, the benefits of accession can help to create jobs, raise incomes, and improve people’s lives. For Kazakhstan, this is recognition of the efforts you have made over recent years and your commitment to this process. It is an endorsement of the extensive programme of reforms which you have undertaken. And it is a message to the world that Kazakhstan is open for business. It brings the organization closer to the heart of Central Asia. And it brings us closer to our goal of universal membership.”

As Kazakhstan’s President Nursultan Nazarbayev said, “During the negotiations of our accession to the WTO, the configuration of Kazakhstan’s economy has changed dramatically. Today, we are doing business with 185 states of the world. Over the past years, we have come a long way to integrate Kazakhstan’s economy into the global market. We have proceeded to implement ambitious institutional reforms. They include further development of international economic cooperation. Kazakhstan will soon start working under the WTO rules. Yet for a long time now, we have been shaping our economic policies in the spirit of the WTO, by removing barriers, acting as an engine of regional integration and promoting the principles of open collaboration.”

Full speech by Roberto Azevêdo
Full speech by Nursultan Nazarbayev
Press-release at the WTO web-site