Kazakhstan, Astana, Feb. 5 / Trend A.Maratov /
The volume of Kazakhstan's foreign trade with the Customs Union countries totaled $16.5 billion in 2010, Economic Development and Trade Minister Zhanar Aitzhanova said.
"The first results of the Customs Union's activities show that the Kazakh exports to Russia grew by 35.9 percent in 2010. The volume of foreign trade with the Customs Union countries increased by 28.1 percent to $16.5 billion, and hit 18.5 percent of the total trade turnover of Kazakhstan," Aitzhanova said at the ministry's collegiums meeting held with the participation of Prime Minister Karim Masimov.
The Customs Union of Kazakhstan, Belarus and Russia began to operate in 2010. Since January last year, these states apply uniform import duties and single non-tariff measures on imports from third countries.
To further integrate the member states of the Customs Union, these countries' leaders decided to form a Single Economic Space (SES) between the three countries in December 2009. The relevant ministries and government agencies developed the entire legal basis of the SES within a year. The SES adopted 17 agreements in November-December 2010 as a result of this work.