Kazakhstan, Astana, July 24 / Trend D. Mukhtarov /
It is necessary to facilitate the visa issuing procedure to Chinese citizens for rapid and successful implementation of joint projects in Kazakhstan, deputy Minister of Commerce of the People's Republic of China Jiang Yaopin said today.
"We face complex and long procedures and high costs for formalising visas and work permits," Yaopin said at the sixth meeting of the sub-committee on Trade and Economic Cooperation of the Kazakh-Chinese Cooperation Committee. "This negatively affects the realisation of our joint projects."
He recalled that the two presidents set the goal to increase trade turnover to $40 billion by 2015. In this regard, Yaopin appealed to the Kazakh side to consider the visa issuing procedure for Chinese citizens.
He said that the Chinese Ministry of Commerce is actively promoting the signing of the intergovernmental agreement on temporary employment with the Kazakh side.
"We hope that together we will very soon reach a consensus on this agreement," Yaopin said.
It was earlier reported that more than 6,000 Chinese specialists will arrive in Kazakhstan over the next two years to implement three projects in the oil and gas industry.
"Around 6200 workers and specialists from China will arrive in Kazakhstan up till 2014 to implement such major projects as the construction of the Beineu-Shymkent, Kazakhstan - China pipelines and Zhanazhol plant," representative of the Atameken Union National Economic Chamber Zhanar Mambeeva said earlier at the next meeting of the coordinating council of the KazEnergy Association.
According to the letter of the Ministry of Industry and New Technologies, many foreign workers in excess of the quota established by the previous government, will arrive to implement 11 more major projects in Kazakhstan.
"We will face this situation due to the lack of our own skilled specialists," she said.