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KAZAKHSTAN DAILY DIGEST
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From: Elina Karakulova (ekarakulova@sorosny.org)
Date: Mon Jul 21 2003 - 17:08:29 EDT
KAZAKH DELEGATION DISCUSSES WTO MEMBERSHIP
A delegation of Kazakh government officials headed by Industry and Trade Minister Adilbek Dzhaksybekov held talks in Geneva on 9-15 July on joining the World Trade Organization (WTO), khabar.kz and Interfax-Kazakhstan reported on 17 July, citing a Foreign Ministry press release. During discussions with WTO Director-General Supachai Panitchpakdi, both sides reportedly agreed that Kazakhstan needs to make its economy more competitive before joining the organization. Panitchpakdi confirmed a WTO Secretariat offer to provide technical and organizational help to prepare Kazakhstan for membership. The WTO official reportedly praised Kazakhstan's progress in reforming its foreign-trade regime and for adopting WTO and internationally accepted accounting practices. The Kazakh delegation also met with representatives of a number of WTO member states to discuss conditions for increasing access to Kazakhstan's goods and services market. The Kazakh Foreign Ministry assessed the Geneva talks favorably, saying they cemented earlier progress toward eventual WTO membership. The only Central Asian state that is already a WTO member is Kyrgyzstan. BB
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