BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 27. European Union (EU) is working on an Enhanced Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (EPCA) with Kyrgyzstan, which will regulate trade and economic relations, the Head of the European Union Delegation in Kyrgyzstan, Raimonds Vingris said during IBC TradEx 2023 forum in Bishkek, Trend reports via Kyrgyz media.
Vingris noted that trade turnover between Kyrgyzstan and the EU increased by 17.8 percent, up to 448 million euros in 2022. He compared last year’s indicators to 2021 when trade turnover between the countries totaled 318 million euros.
According to him, Kyrgyzstan increased exports to the EU countries by 30.6 percent, while imports from the EU to Kyrgyzstan grew by 13 percent.
Further, Vingris listed the main products that Kyrgyzstan exports to the EU countries, among them are precious metals and fruits and vegetables.
However, he noted that these products are not covered by the Generalised System of Preferences Plus (GSP+) preferences.
Vingris added that while the overall volume of trade and the use of GSP+ increased during the period from 2016 through 2018, there was a stable but relatively low level of GSP+ utilization in Kyrgyzstan from 2019 through 2022.
According to him, the main products benefiting from GSP+ in Kyrgyzstan were dried fruits and nuts, followed by tobacco and footwear.
The EU's Generalised System of Preferences Plus (GSP+) removes import duties from certain products imported into the EU from developing countries.