OSCE Centre in Kazakhstan supports trade and transport facilitation

A two-day high-level meeting on international trade, trade facilitation and aid for trade was held on 13 and 14 September 2012 in Almaty with the OSCE’s participation. The meeting was organized by Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Economic Development and Trade and the UN Office of the High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States. It brought together key decision makers from these countries, local and international experts, the business community and civil society representatives.

The conference reviewed the progress achieved in the area of international trade and transport facilitation under the 2003 Almaty Programme of Action, outlined challenges and priorities for further action, and developed recommendations to be considered in the final outcome document of the Ten-Year Review Conference, which will be held in 2014.

“Over the past several years the issue of trade and transport facilitation has occupied a prominent place on the OSCE’s agenda, particularly in Central Asia, since it is an important part of promoting security and co-operation in the region,” said Jeannette Kloetzer, the Deputy Head of the OSCE Centre. At the event she spoke about the OSCE-UNECE Handbook of Best Practices at Border Crossings: a Trade and Transport Facilitation Perspective, which provides practical examples and recommendations of how countries can modernize their transport, border and customs policies.