Kazakhstan confident about Customs Union efficiency
SK. January 19. KAZINFORM Kazakhstan has no doubts about the efficiency of the Customs Union, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Kazakhstan to Belarus Anatoly Smirnov told a press conference on 19 January, Kazinform has learnt from BelTA.
The head of the diplomatic mission underlined that Kazakhstan was one of the driving forces behind the establishment of the Customs Union and the single economic territory. In his words, a possibility to create a customs union was considered by Kazakhstan as early as in the 1990s.
This goal was achieved within the framework of the three states, Belarus, Russia and Kazakhstan. The Customs Union opens up great prospects for a large-scale trade and economic cooperation, but all the issues within the Customs Union will be addressed step by step.
In particular, on 1 July 2010, the Customs Code will come into effect and the customs clearance will be abolished; in 2011, the customs control will be removed from the Kazakh-Russian border; on 1 January 2012 the single economic territory will be created. Anatoly Smirnov noted that it took the European Union 50 years to form the single economic territory, while the former Soviet Union republics will reach this goal faster taking into consideration the urgency of the matter.
The ambassador believes that in the present day conditions integration is the only efficient instrument to respond to global challenges, improve economic performance and enhance the well-being of people. "Global issues cannot be settled independently," he said.
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