A meeting of the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council in an expanded format took place in Almaty, Zakon.kz reports.
The meeting was attended by the heads of the governments of Armenia, Nikol Pashinyan; Belarus, Roman Golovchenko; Kazakhstan, Alihan Smailov; Russia, Mikhail Mishustin; the First Deputy Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers of Kyrgyzstan, Adylbek Kasymaliev, and the Chairman of the Board of the Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC), Bakytzhan Sagintayev.
"They discussed the current state and prospects of development of the integrated information system of the EAEU, the action plan for creating favorable conditions for the development of e-commerce, and the issue of amending the list of priority integration infrastructure projects in the transport sector," the statement says.
In addition, the participants discussed the macroeconomic situation in the EAEU countries and proposals for ensuring sustainable economic development.
Alihan Smailov reminded that this year marks the 10th anniversary of the signing of the EAEU Treaty. Today, it is a dynamically developing integration association with a population of 190 million people, a labor market of over 93 million people, and a GDP of $2.7 trillion. Moreover, mutual trade among member states from 2015 to 2022 doubled and reached $85 billion.
"The significant event of the past year was the adoption of the Declaration 'Eurasian Economic Path.' This document defines the key directions of integration processes in the Eurasian space for the next 5 years. The implementation of the Declaration will create conditions for the development of our economies. We need to make maximum efforts for the implementation of specific economic projects," said the Prime Minister.
As the head of the government noted, the EAEU is at the crossroads of East and West, North and South, which has always been a competitive advantage of this region.
"Kazakhstan attaches special importance to the development of transit and transport infrastructure. Over the past 15 years, our country has directed more than $35 billion for these purposes. Logistics center in Lianyungang, dry port "Khorgos," transit highway "Western Europe – Western China," railway corridor from China to Iran have been launched. The modernization of the Caspian Sea ports "Kuryk" and "Aktau" has been carried out," Alihan Smailov noted.
He also added that the construction of new railways, such as "Bakhty – Ayagoz," "Darbaza – Maktaaral," the bypass line around the "Almaty" station has started, and the second tracks are being laid on the "Dostyk – Moynty" section.
Furthermore, the construction of the Kazakh terminal in the Chinese city of Xi'an has been initiated. Joint work is being carried out with Russian, Turkmen, Indian, and Iranian parties for the synchronous development of the Eastern route of the "North – South" corridor.
At the end of the meeting, the participants signed a number of relevant documents.
Earlier, Alihan Smailov called on the EAEU countries to ensure the free movement of goods.
CentralasianLIGHT.org
February 2, 2024