ASTANA, Kazakhstan, September 14. The countries of the Organization of Turkic States (OTS) decided to create a special economic zone (TURAN) in Kazakhstan, said Turkish Trade Minister Omer Bolat, following the 12th meeting of the OTS Ministers of Trade and Economy and the 14th meeting of the Working Group on Economic Cooperation in Istanbul, Trend reports.
"As a result of our ministerial meeting today, we agreed to introduce new generation tools, such as the signing of the Digital Economy Partnership Agreement between Member States and the creation of the TURAN Special Economic Zone, which in turn will strengthen economic and trade cooperation between our countries," he said.
As the head of the Ministry of Trade noted, given the growing importance of trade in services and investment in the 21st century, countries are working on the possibility of concluding a "Free Trade Agreement in Services and Investments".
"Today we demonstrated our intention to begin negotiations on this agreement as soon as possible," he added.
The creation of the TURAN SEZ will be carried out by transforming the TURKISTAN special economic zone into a SEZ for Turkic states on the territory of the Turkestan region of Kazakhstan. The SEZ will receive a new name - TURAN. Its area will expand from 3,987 hectares to 4,622 hectares. The increase will occur due to an increase of 635 hectares of industrial zones. Thus, after the changes, the SEZ will include six subzones.