§ Mr. FrenchTo ask the President of the Board of Trade (1) what plans he has to negotiate a trade agreement between the United Kingdom and Kazakhstan;
(2) what plans he has to meet trade delegations from Kazakhstan;
(3) what plans he has to increase the amount of trade between the United Kingdom and Kazakhstan.
§ Mr. NeedhamTrade between the United Kingdom and Kazakhstan comes within Community competence and, under the United Kingdom presidency of the EC, my Department has played a leading role in securing agreement on a mandate for partnership and co-operation agreements with the republics of the former Soviet Union. Negotiations with Kazakhstan on such an agreement are expected to begin early this year. On a bilateral basis 709W negotiations are now beginning between the United Kingdom and Kazakh authorities on an investment promotion and protection agreement—IPPA.
No officially sponsored trade delegations are expected in the near future but as recently as last November my right hon. Friend the President of the Board of Trade met Vice-President Asanbaev during his visit to London.
My Department intends to build on this visit and on that made by President Nazarbaev in November 1991. The section of the Department that dealt with the former Soviet Union has now been split up and enlarged to provide a separate section on Transcaucasia and central Asia, including Kazakhstan. This new section already provides British companies with information about economic conditions and specific business opportunities and supports them in the market, in which it works closely with the British embassy recently opened in Alma Ata.