OECD membership to benefit Kazakhstan economy

He presented Kazakhstan's bid for obtaining the status of a permanent observer in the four key committees of the Organization: the Investment Committee, Education Committee, Committee for Agriculture, and Committee on Industry, Innovation and Entrepreneurship, the Kazakh MFA's press service said.

In his address to the session of the Permanent Council, Massimov emphasised the aspiration of Kazakhstan to implement the OECD standards and to cooperate further with the Committees. "For any nation that aspires to build strong institutions, hold government accountable, the OECD and its member states are the standard to follow," Massimov said.

"When the OECD was created half a century ago, few could have imagined that Kazakhstan would become independent - let alone one of the ten highest performing economies in the world, now embarking on systematic, system-wide reform" Massimov said in his address.

Kazakhstan's application to become an observer in different Committees comes ahead of the nation's twentieth anniversary of independence on 16th December. In the last two decades, Kazakhstan has maintained strong economic growth, increasing per capita GDP 12 times over - from less than 700 US dollars to 9,000. The country ranks in the world's top ten performing economies over the last decade and is now classified by the World Bank as an upper middle income nation.

"We look to the day when a Kazakhstani ambassador might join the OECD's ranks," Massimov said.

In a sign of the growing cooperation between Kazakhstan and the OECD, the country will also introduce a visa free regime for citizens from OECD countries. Already an active member of the OECD Eurasia Competitiveness Programme, last December Kazakhstan set up a Council for cooperation with the OECD to coordinate implementation of various projects and development of proposals to further cooperation with the organization.

Founded in 1961, the OECD is one of the most respected dialogue platforms for multilateral negotiations on economic issues. The primary goals of the OECD are to ensure sustainable economic growth, to raise standards of living in the member states, and to facilitate global multilateral trade expansion. Its mandate covers economic, environmental, and social issues.