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1. Thank you very much, Chair. First of all, let me offer a really warm welcome to the Minister and all his team from Astana. Great to have you here. Great to have you back, Ambassador Zanar Aitzhan, really lovely to see you. Let me thank you, Chair, as ever, for your introduction, the WTO Secretariat for your report and, of course, our Ambassador Sophia Boza Martinez, Ambassador and, of course, Professor. Thank you for your presentation this morning.

2. As this is the first Trade Policy Review since Kazakhstan鈥檚 accession 10 years ago, obviously, today, this week, indeed offers a really unique opportunity to reflect upon Kazakhstan鈥檚 trade policies over the last decade. And thank you, Minister, for your presentation to kick us off this morning, but also for the role that trade policy has played not just in Kazakhstan鈥檚 development, which you explained, but also in this organisation and in our work over the last 10 years.

3. Chair, I think probably is not a surprise to you or to most of the people in this room, but the UK is a great believer in the virtues and benefits of WTO accession. And I think they鈥檙e demonstrated by Kazakhstan鈥檚 economic performance over the last 10 years: trade growth from 57% of GDP back in 2017 to 62% last year, Most Favoured Nation tariff decrease from almost 8% in 2016 to 6% now.

4. During that same period, again, as the Minister related at the beginning, Kazakhstan has faced the shock, political, economic shock of the pandemic, but showed significant broad-based economic resilience. And we think that is, in part, the fruit of being a member of this organization. We particularly recognize the success of the 鈥楧igital Kazakhstan鈥� programme, which has facilitated the growth of so many Kazakh SMEs (Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises).

5. The UK is, again, both the Minister and Sophia mentioned, a strong believer in the Kazakhstan鈥檚 economy. We are one of Kazakhstan鈥檚 top six investors, with an annual trade turnover of almost 拢 3 billion, which reflects, in our view, a strategic partnership which we have nurtured since Kazakhstan鈥檚 independence back in 1991. And that partnership stretches across many areas, from business and education to climate and biodiversity and all the way from Astana and the Caspian Sea to the shores of Lake Geneva here in Switzerland.

6. For instance, Kazakhstan鈥檚 national airline Air Astana was successfully floated on the London Stock Exchange earlier this year; British universities, including Coventry and De Montfort, have opened campuses in Kazakhstan and offered dual degree programmes; British companies have made significant investments in flagship oil and gas projects and Kazakhstan鈥檚 mining sector. And here in Geneva, we are close partners, not just here in this organization, but also in the Human Rights Council, where we are proud to work with Kazakhstan as an elected member of that body.

7. We welcome Kazakhstan鈥檚 commitment to continue broadening and deepening that bilateral relationship. We look forward to hosting our annual Intergovernmental Commission on Trade and Investment in London this autumn, and that 11th session of the Commission will provide an important opportunity to discuss how we can further strengthen that relationship for the future, with the first meeting since we signed the UK-Kazakhstan Strategic Partnership and Cooperation Agreement.

8. Our engagement with this Trade Policy Review has been motivated by a desire to build upon that bilateral progress. Kazakhstan鈥檚 constructive answers to our Advanced Written Questions, thank you, should provide clarity, and we hope ease trade for UK and Kazakh businesses.

9. Most of all, Chair, Minister, we鈥檇 welcome progress in tackling one key Market Access Barrier that is faced by British businesses, and that is the use of subsidies favouring domestic agricultural machinery over imported 鈥渓ike鈥� machinery. We fully understand the importance of increasing domestic manufacturing for Kazakhstan鈥檚 economy, but we do believe that those subsidies negatively impact Kazakhstan鈥檚 agricultural sector development, responsible for over 4% of GDP, pricing, we鈥檇 argue, the best technology out of the market. We鈥檇 also venture to suggest that those subsidies are not compliant with WTO rules. So, going forward, we would really like Kazakhstan to comply with those rules and take steps to modify or eliminate those subsidies.

10. We would also, I have to say, welcome Kazakhstan鈥檚 accession to the Government Procurement Agreement, as it suggested it would do during the WTO accession process. We maintain an offer of bilateral assistance, should you desire to take forward that process of accession.

11. More generally, let me pay tribute, as so many others have done this morning, to the role that Kazakhstan has played within this organisation since its accession. Minister, you touched on it, as did Sophia, most significantly the pivotal role you played in chairing the MC12 negotiations, even if we were denied the opportunity, sadly, by the Pandemic of a visit to Astana. It was a great privilege to work with Ambassador Aitzhan, who led the charge for the delivery, not just of that Ministerial Conference, but also for the Services paragraph, and it has been a great tribune for services in trade in this organisation as Chair of the Council for Trade in Services in Special Session. Your work is not being left unfinished. We need to push forward with ensuring that we give due recognition in this organization to the rapidly growing global services in trade, which offer such opportunities for countries in both the developed and developing world.

12. We also welcome Kazakhstan鈥檚 participation within a whole range of other plurilateral initiatives, as others have said this morning, including those on Investment Facilitation for Development, E-commerce and Services Domestic Regulation, all really important initiatives which we wish to see brought within the framework of this organisation.

13. And it would be remiss of me as one of the co-chairs of the Informal Working Group on Trade and Gender, not to mention, as my Ukrainian colleague did, Kazakhstan鈥檚 commitment not just to that Working Group, but to the cause of trade and gender equality, particularly through enhancing women鈥檚 employment and entrepreneurial skills. So, I would really love Kazakhstan to come to that Working Group to share its experiences in supporting women in trade, including the Business Roadmap 2020-25 initiative, at one of our future meetings.

14. Finally, let me commend the Minister and is delegation, who had to face the WTO internal deadline of the 30th of August for submitting Advanced Written Questions, coinciding with their most important national holiday, the Constitution Day. I hope that they found time to have their own belated celebrations, if they haven鈥檛 done so far. And I hope that, at the end of this week, they will celebrate in style in this fair city.

Thank you.