NUR-SULTAN – Kazakh Prime Minister Askar Mamin proposed a number of initiatives on strengthening the competitiveness of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), in an Oct. 9 offline meeting of the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council (EIC) in Yerevan, Armenia.
Kazakh Prime Minister Askar Mamin (C). Photo credit: primeminister.kz.
To ensure the effective functioning of free markets, Mamin proposed to form a tax and customs space in the EAEU with a digital integration platform and to expand paperfree processes between tax and customs authorities.
The prime minister also proposed to expand the Kazakh national commodity distribution system, which is currently in development, into the Eurasian region.
“Considering the geographical location of our countries, the EAEU may well become a trade hub between Europe and Asia,” Mamin said.
The prime minister stressed the need to create an integrated Eurasian transport system by using existing infrastructure and optimize and lower the costs of goods.
Mamin also suggested creating testing laboratories at strategic checkpoints within the EAEU. The laboratories should significantly reduce the cost of compliance procedures for products with the requirements of third party countries.
The meeting participants also revised the draft of the 2025 Strategic Directions for the Development of Eurasian Economic Integration proposal and made progress in the development of cross-border e-commerce.
Among the meeting participants were prime ministers of Belarus, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Russia, Moldova, the envoy of Kyrgyzstan, as well as representatives from the Eurasian Development Bank, the EIC, and the Eurasian Economic Commission.
