Kazakhs OK Deal On Single Economic Space

21 April 2004 -- Kazakhstan's lower house of parliament today ratified an agreement with Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine to form a Single Economic Space, making Belarus the only country whose parliament has not yet granted its approval to the deal.

Kazakh Deputy Trade and Industry Minister Bolat Smagulov told the parliament that the agreement will contribute to the free movement of goods, services, capital, and the workforce.

Yesterday, the Russian and Ukrainian parliaments ratified the agreement.

The agreement, signed by the four countries' presidents in September, pledges that those four countries will follow the same foreign-trade principles and coordinate their tax, financial, and credit policies to the extent needed for equal competition and macroeconomic stability.

(ITAR-TASS/IFX)