EFTA[17] has bilateral agreements with the following countries and blocs, including dependent regions: changes related to the entry and temporary stay of business visitors and intragroup buyers (ICTs), for example. B the annual quota of foreign staff does not apply to ICT (instead, the total number of foreign managers and ICT specialists should not exceed 50% and there are no restrictions on executives); Business travellers can enter without a visa for a period of 90 days; The entry of foreign staff as ICT is permitted under certain conditions and with the possibility of a three-year extension. Note: Any customs union, every common market, any economic union, the Customs and Monetary Union and the Economic and Monetary Union are also a free trade area. EBRD (2016), EBRD projects in Kazakhstan, www.ebrd.com/kazakhstan-data.html. This trade report on Kazakhstan consists of three political remarks on how to improve the trade policy framework, its management and its rules. Turkey has bilateral and multilateral agreements with: Knobel, A., A. Lipin, A. Malokostov, D.G. Tarr and N.
Turdyeva (2016), non-tariff barriers and trade integration in the EAEU, mimeography. Dentons (2015), “Kazakhstan`s accession to the WTO: new local content requirements,” www.dentons.com/en/insights/alerts/2015/november/17/kazakhstans-accession-to-the-wto-new-local-content-requirements. List of agreements being negotiated. Agreements that have so far been discussed only in the absence of formal action by the parties concerned are not mentioned. Afghanistan has bilateral agreements with the following countries and blocs:[1] As noted above, WTO membership is an important step in Kazakhstan`s economic integration with the rest of the world. Nevertheless, the signing of other preferential trade agreements and the development of physical infrastructure for trade can further reduce the trade costs faced by Kazakh companies, including foreign investors investing in the country. Indicator-based estimates serve as the basis for governments to prioritize trade facilitation reforms and to better target technical assistance and capacity-building efforts. Such an analysis shows that the potential reduction in trade costs by applying all options contained in the DAC is between 10.4% and 17.4% for all countries and about 13% for middle-income countries such as Kazakhstan. The rationalization and automaticity of border processes, the application of risk assessments and the application of preliminary decisions are estimated to have the greatest impact on reducing trade costs in these countries (Mosé and Sorescu, 2013; OECD, 2014). Given that Kazakhstan falls short of its revenue category in terms of formalities (see chart below), further progress in streamlining and automating border procedures could have a significant impact.
In the field of telecommunications, WTO membership has already reduced restrictions: Kazakhstan has committed to lifting foreign capital ceilings in this sector within 2.5 years of the country`s accession to the WTO (with the exception of the JSC Kazakhtelecom) and removed the ceiling from the beginning of 2016 (see Chapter 2). The WTO commitment will also prevent the government from re-establishing the existing maximum capital limit at the end of the transition period. Nevertheless, other regulatory barriers to entry into this sector still exist for foreign and domestic operators who are not covered by the WTO GATS or other related obligations, and may de facto limit investment and trade opportunities in this sector after WTO accession.66 OECD (2014), Wto Agreement on Trade Facilitation – Potential Impacts on Trade Costs, Paris, www.oecd.org/trade/tradedev/OECD_TAD_WTO_trade_facilitation_agreement_potential impact_trade_costs_february_2014.pdf.