GOVERNMENT: Kazakhstan readies to join WTO and launches energy efficiency project together with World Bank

In the light of the forthcoming Kazakhstan's entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO) Kazakhstan is doing its best to bring its legislation in accordance with the organization's rules and standards. Several bills to amend the existing legislation have been submitted to the Kazakh Parliament. In order to improve the energy efficiency in public and social facilities and to create an enabling environment for sustainable energy efficiency financing, the Kazakh Ministry of Investments and Development and the World Bank launched the Kazakhstan Energy Efficiency Project this week. The grant for the implementation of the project totaling $21.7 million was provided by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation through the World Bank-administered Trust Fund. The project will concentrate on reduction in energy use of public buildings such as hospitals, schools, and street lighting to demonstrate energy cost savings and social so-benefits. 8 schools and 11 kindergartens will be modernized within the framework of the first stage of the project. This week Kazakhstan's Ministry of Agriculture announced that over 17 million tons of grain will be harvested countrywide this year. Total area of crop land amounts to 21.2 million ha. Harvesting campaign is in full swing in most regions of Kazakhstan. According to the ministry, there are 204 licensed grain collecting stations in Kazakhstan that can store up to 13.7 million tons of grain. The remaining part of the harvest will be stored by agricultural producers. As is known this year Kazakhstan climbed 10 spots up to 28th place in the UN E-Government Survey. The Ministry of Investments and Development revealed that amount of payments via e-governmental portal had exceeded 10 billion tenge. Those are mostly payments for traffic citation and payment of state duty.