NUR-SULTAN – Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) member states prime ministers discussed ways to increase integration, the status of agreements and future cooperation at the Aug. 9 Eurasian Intergovernmental Council (EIC) meeting in Cholpon Ata, Kyrgyzstan, according to the Kazakh Prime Minister’s office.
Photo credit: primeminister.kz.
The prime ministers of Kazakhstan Askar Mamin, Belarus Syarhey Rumas, Armenia Nikol Pashinyan, Kyrgyzstan Mukhammedkalyi Abylgaziev, Russia Dmitry Medvedev and Chairman of the Board of the Eurasian Economic Commission Tigran Sargsyan attended the meeting held on the shore of the famous Issyk Kul lake.
Photo credit: primeminister.kz.
Participants discussed trade and economic cooperation, the removal of obstacles in the EAEU domestic market, the regulation of the alcohol and financial markets, the cooperation of member state custom services and other issues.
Mamin said EAEU members are working to implement EAEU treaty provisions on cooperation and to draft strategic directions to develop EAEU economic integration until 2025.
The prime minister also urged the union to prioritise industrial cooperation, create a digital map of industrial enterprises across member states and develop a joint programme to develop the economy of simple things. This sector can increase the gross product of up to 1.5 percent of GDP, he said.
Mamin also said the EAEU has the potential to integrate into the international transport network and said simplifying transit procedures through union territory and the EAEU Unified Transit System, currently being developed, will help that integration.
Mamin said the union must develop cooperation in financial markets, in protecting the rights and interests of consumers of financial services and investors, in trade and in investment cooperation. He suggested using the Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC) to help build that cooperation. Kazakhstan has created a technology hub within the AIFC. The hub has the capacity to build infrastructure to unite all regional participants in the financial technology market. The hub is also an incubator for new financial technology products.
To enhance cooperation in this area, a plan of joint activities between the Eurasian Economic Commission and the AIFC for 2019-2021 was signed in the framework of the memorandum of cooperation between the EAEU and the AIFC.
In total, 12 documents were signed during the meeting.
