ASTANA (KazInform) – Kazakhstan and Austria plan to introduce a visa-free regime for businessmen of the two countries, this has been announced at today’s Kazakh-Austrian Business Council by Meyram Pshembayev, head of the council, member of the Majilis.

“We are interested in establishing close contacts between our two countries and the European community. And in this regard, we give preference to visa-free travel for business people of the two states”, he said.

Austria is among the leading trade partners of Kazakhstan ranked the 4^th among all the EU countries in 2013 (according to the Kazakhstan data, trade turnover amounted to $4.355 bln in 2013), while Kazakhstan is the 3^rd ranked trade partner of Austria among the CIS countries (after Russia and Ukraine).

In addition, Meyram Pshembayev proposed the creation of two divisions of the council – an expert-analytical centre and a department for promotion of investment.

The meeting of the Business Council was attended by 36 companies from Austria and more than 30 companies from Kazakhstan.

Austria is member of the Schengen Area and as a rule, the EU’s freedom of movement provisions apply. The Schengen Area mostly functions as a single country for international travel purposes, with a common visa policy.