WEEKLY REVIEW: The WTO accession to contribute Kazakhstan's agrarian sector development

On Monday, May 20, Chair of the Committee for the Youth's Affairs of the Education Ministry Nurlan Uteshev informed that Youth Policy Concept Action Plan has been developed. The plan takes into account increased social pressure on young people, their role in the formation of human capital and, in general, the country's competitiveness

On Tuesday, May 21, during the Government's session Prime Minister Serik Akhmetov instructed the Ministry of Transport and Communications to take into account the work on gardening and artificial snow retention in the roads' designing. In addition, Akhmetov has instructed MTC to ensure the implementation of projects "Western Europe - Western China," Astana - Almaty "," Astana - Pavlodar "and others, according to the schedule.

Akhmetov also said that he considered it is necessary to introduce tolls on roads to maintain them in good condition.

The same day head of the Government Serik Akhmetov held bilateral meetings with members of the Foreign Investors Council under the President of Kazakhstan and members of VI Astana Economic Forum.

In particular, Serik Akhmetov and Chairman of the Board of Directors of JP Morgan Jacob Frenkel discussed the prospects of development of Kazakhstan's economy. The two sides expressed their interest in a fruitful collaboration in the implementation of Kazakhstan's forced industrial innovation program.

The status and prospects of metallurgical industry in Kazakhstan were discussed at a meeting with member of the Group Management Board of ArcelorMittal Gonzalo Urquijo.

At a meeting with Chairman of the Eurasian Development Bank Igor Finogenov special attention was paid to the implementation of investment projects in Kazakhstan.

On May 22, Kazakh Prime Minister has met with President of the Chamber of Deputies of Romania Valeriu Zgonea on the sidelines of the VI Astana Economic Forum.

The sides discussed a wide array of topics.According to Akhmetov, "Kazakhstan and Romania have good opportunities to expand trade and economic relations." He also noted the presence of "broad prospects for successful cooperation in various sectors of the economy."

According to V.Zgonea, "the two countries have sufficient capacity for the expansion of cooperation in investment, oil and gas, energy, education spheres."

The Kazakh Prime Minister also noted that "Kazakhstan and Romania could expand cooperation in transit transport sector with the creation of logistic centers."

On Thursday, May 23, the first Vice-Minister - Minister of Regional Development Bahytzhan Sagintayev speaking at the VI Astana Economic Forum said that the issuance of all permits for businesses will be automated by 2015.

Agriculture Minister Asylzhan Mamytbekov, speaking on the same day of the Forum, said that Kazakhstan is currently already working within the rules and obligations of the World Trade Organization. According to him, the Kazakh agricultural sector is quite ready to implement and integrate into the global agricultural business community. With the right approach, Kazakhstan's accession to the WTO will only contribute to the further development of agriculture.

On Friday, May 24, Prime Minister Akhmetov took part in the International Investment Forum «Astana Invest». He noted that the economic and business potential of Astana opens significant opportunities for investment.

"The economic, business, human potential of Astana city opens up significant opportunities for investment, the development of advanced manufacturing, development of the intelligent services. The convenient geographical location in the center of Eurasia, allows larger communication capabilities of the capital. With the transfer of the capital to Astana, the number of residents has tripled and is now about 700,000 people, which demonstrates the great potential of demographic and consumer capacity of Astana, " Akhmetov noted .

The Prime Minister invited investors to participate in the second phase of the state program of forced industrial-innovative development of Kazakhstan.

On the same day, speaking at the "Dialogue of Leaders" World Anti-Crisis Conference in Astana, Akhmetov said that the info-communication platform "G-Global", created on the basis of the Astana Economic Forum at the initiative of President Nursultan Nazarbayev - is an adequate format of a comprehensive dialogue on topical issues of contemporary agenda.

"The global financial crisis has shown the need to jointly address the issue of maintaining global economic stability and sustainability. The basis for the solution of complex issues and challenges of our time must be broad-based dialogue and cooperation ", the Prime Minister said.