On September 28, the Kazakh government and the Friends of Investment Facilitation for Development (FIFD) of World Trade Organization (WTO) jointly held a high-level forum on trade and investment facilitation and development in Astana, Kazakhstan. Kazakh Prime Minister Sagintayev and WTO Director - General Azevedo attended the opening ceremony, and Li Chenggang, Assistant Minister of Commerce of PRC attended and addressed at the opening ceremony on behalf of Minister of Commerce of PRC, Zhong Shan. Li Chenggang also spoke separately at the forum's thematic discussion session and the breakfast meeting hosted by Kazakhstan. Zhang Xiangchen, Ambassador of Permanent Representative of China to the WTO, attended the forum and participated in the discussion.
Li Chenggang said that FIFD, composed of 17 WTO members including China and Kazakhstan, is promoting the discussion of investment facilitation issues in the WTO, and nearly 80 members have already participated. Moreover, he wished for the active involvement of members from Europe and Asia to make concerted efforts to bring forth at an early date multilateral results in terms of investment facilitation conducive to development.
Ministers and high-level representatives such as ambassadors to WTO from 30 countries in Europe, Asia and the Middle East, such as Turkey, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Armenia, UAE, Qatar and other places, attended the forum. All parties have conducted in-depth exchanges on investment facilitation policies and measures. Through the Astana Statement, the Forum spoke highly of the ongoing structured discussions on investment facilitation in WTO and supported the regional publicity activities. Members from Europe and Asia region expressed their willingness to actively participate in the Geneva discussions.
High - level Forum on Trade and Investment Facilitation and Development Held in Kazakhstan
Date:2018-10-10 Hits:32
