Azerbaijan , Baku, Oct. 7 /Trend/
Lithuania is ready to support Kazakhstan in its accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO), Itar-Tass reported according to the President Dalia Grybauskaite.
"Membership of such organization will all at once create a cushion of confidence and we will be able to use this confidence in the Customs Union that you are creating and strengthening with the Russian Federation and Belarus," Grybauskait said during the bilateral business forum in Astana on Friday.
According to the Lithuania's President, with the accession to WTO, Kazakhstan will become its neighbour, which is very good.
According to the Office of the US Trade Representative, Kazakhstan applied for membership in the WTO in April 1996 and circulated its Memorandum on the Foreign Trade Regime in September 1996.
In September the protocol on the completion of the bilateral negotiations between the United States and Kazakhstan on Astana's accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) was signed.
The signing of the protocol was preceded by technical consultations on the issue of access of US service providers to the Kazakh market. This was one of the key conditions for Kazakhstan's accession to the WTO.
Kazakh Prime Minister Karim Masimov said during the forum that the country needs support of Lithuania as a member of the European Union, with which close relations "are principally important."
According to him, Kazakhstan, in return can provide adequate support for Lithuania, including
that within the framework of the Customs Union., in order to tap the transit potential of Lithuania's ports and the whole territory of Lithuania for the shipment of cargoes and goods through the territory of the Russian Federation.
Edited by: A.Badalova