Kazakhstan is a member of the CIS Free Trade Agreement. As a member of the EAEU, Kazakhstan is also a signatory to the EAEU-Vietnam FTA.
EU and Kazakhstan
The Enhanced Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (EPCA) controls trade and economic relations between the European Union and Kazakhstan and went into effect on March 1, 2020. Kazakhstan is the first Central Asian country to sign an EPCA with the European Union.
Kazakhstan’s largest trading partner, accounting for about 30% of its total exports, is the European Union. In addition, the EU is Kazakhstan’s largest foreign investor.
The EPCA was signed in 2015 and began to be implemented on a trial basis on May 1, 2016. The Agreement went into effect on March 1, 2020, after being ratified by all EU Member States. It replaced the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement of 1999.
The EPCA improves the regulatory environment for enterprises in a variety of sectors, including:
- the exchange of services
- the formation and running of businesses
- capital transfers
- energy and raw materials
- government contracting, as well as
- intellectual-property-rights protection.
The Council adopted Conclusions on a new EU Strategy for Central Asia on June 17, 2019, which establishes a framework for enhancing regional cooperation and tackling new opportunities and challenges in the region.
Canada – Kazakhstan relations
Kazakhstan and Canada established diplomatic relations in 1992. On April 10, 2022, the two countries marked the 30th anniversary of their bilateral relations. Kazakhstan’s Embassy in Ottawa represents the country in Canada. The Embassy of Canada to Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, and Tajikistan in Nur-Sultan represents Canada in Kazakhstan. Kazakh citizens’ immigration and visa applications are handled through the Canadian embassies in Warsaw and Moscow.
Canada-Kazakhstan relations are solidifying. Kazakhstan is a major regional player and a close partner of Canada in multilateral forums and international organizations such as the UN, OSCE, IMF, World Bank, and WTO. Canada and Kazakhstan have a long-standing nuclear non-proliferation collaboration, which includes a Memorandum of Understanding to equip Kazakhstan with a radionuclide and noble gas monitoring station to bolster the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty’s verification. Despite the epidemic, the station was delivered to Kazakhstan successfully in 2020.
Canada is a prominent supporter of Kazakhstan’s democratic reforms and offers best practices, models, and experience in governance in a variety of sectors, including public administration, economics, and security. Kazakhstan’s “one-stop-shop” strategy for providing public services to Kazakhstanis, for example, is based on a Canadian systems design.
Kazakhstan and EAEU
The Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) is a post-Soviet economic union spanning Eastern Europe, Western Asia, and Central Asia. Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Russia signed the Treaty on the Eurasian Economic Union on May 29, 2014, and it went into effect on January 1, 2015. On 9 October and 23 December 2014, treaties aimed at bringing Armenia and Kyrgyzstan into the Eurasian Economic Union were signed, respectively. On January 2, 2015, Armenia’s accession pact became effective. The accession deal with Kyrgyzstan took effect on August 6, 2015. Kyrgyzstan has been a member of the EAEU since its inception as an acceding state.
The Eurasian Economic Union has a 184 million-strong integrated single market with a gross domestic product of more than $5 trillion. The EAEU promotes the free movement of goods and services and establishes common policies in the areas of macroeconomics, transportation, industry and agriculture, energy, foreign trade and investment, customs, technical regulation, competition, and antitrust. In the future, provisions for a unified currency and more integration are expected.
The union is managed through supranational and intergovernmental structures. The Union’s highest body is the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council, which includes all member nations’ leaders.
