At the meeting of the prime ministers of the EAEU countries, Alikhan Smailov called for a common market without barriers and unimpeded transit of goods

 The parties discussed the current state and prospects for the development of the EAEU integrated information system, an action plan to create favorable conditions for the development of electronic commerce, and the issue of amending the list of priority integration infrastructure projects in the field of transport. The DairyNews writes about this with reference to the press service of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

Alikhan Smailov noted that this year marks the 10th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty on the EAEU.

“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. At the same time, mutual trade of the member states from 2015 to 2022 doubled and reached $85 billion,” - reported the press service.

“A landmark 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,” said the Prime Minister. — ... Kazakhstan attaches special importance to the development of transit and transport infrastructure. Over the past 15 years, our country has allocated more than $35 billion for these purposes. A logistics center in Lianyungang, the Khorgos dry port, the Western Europe - Western China transit highway, and a railway corridor from China to Iran have been launched. The Caspian seaports Kuryk and Aktau have been modernized.

He added that the construction of new railways “Bakhty – Ayagoz”, “Darbaza – Maktaaral”, a bypass line around the “Almaty” station has begun and second tracks are already being laid on the “Dostyk – Moyynty” section, the construction of a Kazakh terminal in Chinese Xi’an has begun. Together with the Russian, Turkmen, Indian and Iranian sides, work is being carried out on the synchronous development of the eastern route of the North-South corridor.

“We consider it important to further increase the capacity of international corridors, logistics terminals and checkpoints of our countries. I invite all EAEU countries to implement joint projects to develop transit and transport infrastructure,” the Prime Minister said.

Alikhan Smailov said that to strengthen cooperation in industrial cooperation, a mechanism for financial assistance for joint projects will be launched this year. It will make it possible to implement strategic projects, effectively promote business initiatives, increase mutual investments and create new jobs.

The Head of the Government of Kazakhstan emphasized that the implementation of the “four freedoms” and the basic principles of the Treaty on the EAEU remains the foundation of the integration association.

“Our exporters often face cases of hidden restrictions. Therefore, the issue of implementing one of the four freedoms – freedom of movement of goods – remains relevant for us. It is necessary to form a common barrier-free market and ensure unimpeded transit of goods to third countries. This should be facilitated by the digitalization of all main processes,” he said.

According to the Prime Minister, it is important to intensify dialogue with third countries and international organizations of mutual economic interest.

“Partners should know about our advantages. It seems important to attract third countries to participate in certain EAEU infrastructure projects. The commission needs to work with a list of projects to which interested countries can be involved,” said Alikhan Smailov.

Also, according to the World Bank forecast, said Alikhan Smailov, in 2024 the growth rate of the global economy will continue to slow down and drop to 2.4%.


Photo: press service of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Kazakhstan