Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan decide to create free trade zone

Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan have decided to set up a free trade zone, Uzbek President Islam Karimov said at a news conference after Tuesday's meeting with his Kazakhstani counterpart Nursultan Nazarbayev. While pointing to the mutual striving to increase bilateral trade manifold, Karimov said that the sides agreed to set up a special working group, which will draft a document on the creation of a free trade zone between Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. "With this in mind, we should create necessary conditions and remove all the obstacles and problems," the Uzbek President said. "The question is about the unification of customs and other duties and the introduction of various preferences, which may simplify and improve mutual trade," Karimov added. Nazarbayev, in turn, noted that the bilateral trade, which doubled in 2007, still fails to meet their potential; Kazinform cites Itar-Tass. In addition, only four types of goods are accounted for 80% of bilateral trade, he said. "We will instruct the two prime ministers to study the issue in detail in order to answer within a quarter what impediments we have and we can be done to remove them," Nazarbayev said. Kazakhstan-Uzbekistan trade reached US$1.4 billion in 2007