The 9th regional meeting of the National Committees on Trade Facilitation in Central Asia is taking place in Tashkent, DKNews.kz reports.
Representatives of the public and private sectors from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, international experts discussed current measures aimed at facilitating cross-border trade, as well as further plans and priorities for regional cooperation. Current issues include initiatives to digitalize trade procedures and improve access to information for the private sector.
As the head of the Kazakh delegation, Vice Minister of Trade and Integration of the Republic of Kazakhstan Janel Kushukova noted, the Central Asian countries are traditionally among the main trading partners of Kazakhstan.
«In 2022, the trade turnover of Kazakhstan with the countries of the region increased by 25.7% compared to 2021 and amounted to 7.9 billion US dollars. The Ministry of Trade and Integration of the Republic of Kazakhstan pays great attention to the development and strengthening of cross-border cooperation in the Central Asian region, which can become an incentive for deepening trade cooperation between our states» Janel Kushukova
Within the framework of the event, the parties signed the «Statement of the national authorized bodies for Trade facilitation of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Republic of Tajikistan and the Republic of Uzbekistan on cooperation in the field of trade facilitation».
The document will bring cooperation between the National Committees to a new level, facilitating the expansion of information exchange and consultations. It also provides for the joint implementation of measures to promote and simplify regional trade.
National trade facilitation committees are important platforms for dialogue between stakeholders, where the private and public sectors are represented on a parity basis.
Also, the participants of the meeting will visit the customs post «Yallama» on the Uzbek-Kazakh border, where they will evaluate the work of implemented innovations that contribute to reducing the time and cost of trade procedures.
The Kazakh delegation included representatives of the Ministry of Agriculture, the State Revenue Committee, the National Chamber of Entrepreneurs «Atameken» and JSC «QazTrade».
The regional project «Trade Facilitation in Central Asia» is implemented by GIZ GmbH. The main goal is to improve trade facilitation measures in the region by providing consulting support. The project assists in speeding up cargo control procedures at the border and during transit, and also helps to make them more efficient and transparent.
