The 100th anniversary meeting of the Economic Council of the Commonwealth of Independent States was held in Moscow. The Russian delegation was headed by Deputy Prime Minister of Russia Alexey Overchuk. The welcoming speech was delivered by the Secretary General of the CIS Sergey Lebedev. The Ministry of Economic Development of Russia was introduced by Deputy Minister Dmitry Volvach.
The participants exchanged views on topical issues of economic cooperation in the CIS and outlined promising areas for further cooperation.
“For most CIS countries, Russia remains the main trading partner,” said Dmitry Volvach. – Trade turnover with the CIS countries increased by 6.4%. In Russia’s total trade turnover, the share of trade with the CIS countries increased to 14%. Trade with Kazakhstan increased by 4%, with Belarus by 9%, with Azerbaijan by 11% and with Uzbekistan by 12%.”
The parties paid special attention to the upcoming Russian presidency of the CIS in 2024. It is assumed that among the main tasks that will be emphasized within the framework of the Russian presidency will be issues of strengthening trade and economic ties, ensuring food and technological security of the region, forming a unified humanitarian, cultural, educational and scientific space between Russia and the CIS member states, preserving centuries-old civilizational and spiritual ties of the people of Russia with the peoples of the Commonwealth countries.
“Our plans for 2024 include attracting new participants to the Agreement on Free Trade in Services, Establishment, Activities and Investments,– Dmitry Volvach stressed. “We plan to promote the best Russian practices on the formation of a common digital space in the CIS, develop transport infrastructure and partnership in the field of tourism, create joint travel products in the CIS, and continue to work on removing barriers to trade.”
During the meeting, the parties approved an action plan until 2030 to optimize infrastructure and develop international transport corridors passing through the territories of the CIS countries.
“The implementation of the plan’s measures will ensure the effective use of the opportunities of international transport corridors in the CIS space, create conditions for increasing their competitiveness, attracting cargo flows, and realizing the transport and transit potential of the commonwealth in the interests of socio-economic development of each of the CIS countries,” the Deputy minister explained.
The meeting participants also agreed on the concept of cooperation between the CIS member states in the energy sector until 2035 and a plan of priority measures for its implementation. All these documents will contribute to further deepening cooperation between the CIS countries simultaneously in the economic, trade, scientific, technical, social and environmental spheres, as well as help create favorable conditions for the sustainable development of the national economy of the Commonwealth countries.
Representatives of the CIS member states analyzed the activities of the Interstate Council for Standardization, Metrology and Certification for the period from 2018 to 2022.
“I would like to emphasize the positive role of the information systems of the interstate Council,” commented Dmitry Volvach. “Thanks to them, we manage to plan and develop documents on interstate standardization, it turns out to build cooperation with international and regional organizations for standardization, such as the International Organization for Standardization, the International Electrotechnical Commission, the European Committee for Standardization, the European Committee on standardization in electrical engineering”.
As a result of the meeting, key decisions were made on the basic organizations of the CIS countries in the field of high-performance computing and big data processing, on the development of national nuclear infrastructures, on training, professional retraining and advanced training of personnel in the field of standardization, metrology, quality management and conformity assessment.
The next meeting of the CIS Economic Council is scheduled for March 29, 2024, in Moscow.
