Kazakhstan aims to complete WTO talks |
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Fri, 26 Jan 2007 17:18
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ALMATY, Kazakhstan (AFX) - Kazakhstan is planning to complete accession talks with the World Trade Organization this year, a joint government and National Bank statement said Friday.The energy-rich Central Asian nation, which applied to join the WTO in 1996, will also work out a system to control the quality of goods manufactured by domestic producers, said the annual statement that outlined the government's economic priorities and targets for 2007.Free-market reforms and generous foreign investment in the vast energy sector have made Kazakhstan one of the most economically successful post-Soviet states, with annual economic growth of nearly 10 percent in the past several years.However, the Kazakh economy lacks transparency and is dominated by the less-stable raw materials sector.Kazakhstan produces about 1.3 million barrels of oil a day, according to latest figures.Earlier this month Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev appointed a new prime minister, Karim Masimov, tasking him with boosting the Kazakh economy's competitiveness as part of plans to enter the the 150-member Geneva-based organization that sets global trade rules.Vietnam became the WTO's most recent member earlier this month.Copyright 2006 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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