On May 8, Russian President Vladimir Putin, President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko, President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, President of Kyrgyzstan Sadyr Japarov, and Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan gathered in Moscow for a meeting of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council, the governing body of the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU).
This year marks the tenth anniversary of the establishment of the Russian-led economic integration bloc.
In his speech at the meeting, Kazakhstan President Tokayev emphasized that ten years ago, the Treaty establishing the Eurasian Economic Union was signed in the Kazakh capital, Astana.
According to Tokayev, over that relatively short period of time, the EEU has become an important integration association, and Kazakhstan’s cooperation with the EEU has contributed to the development of the country’s economy. “The correctness of the chosen vector of development of our association has been confirmed by the macroeconomic results of the past decade. Kazakhstan’s trade turnover with the EEU member countries has increased 1.7-fold and reached $28.5 billion.”
The Kazakh leader pointed out the necessity of pushing EEU products to foreign markets, saying that the expansion of free trade agreements with third countries is of particular importance for the Eurasian Economic Union. “This will make it possible to simplify the access of our exporters to new markets and integrate them into regional and global production chains.”
With reference to expanding trade between Europe and Asia, North and South, the Kazakh president emphasized the importance of modernizing and expanding transport and logistics infrastructure. “In Kazakhstan, by 2030, we plan to repair 11 thousand and build more than 5 thousand kilometers of new railways. As part of the Belt and Road initiative, a Kazakh terminal was built in the Chinese city of Xi’an, which accounts for up to 40% of all container traffic on the China-Europe route. There are also plans to launch 5 cross-border transport and logistics hubs on Kazakhstan’s borders with Russia, China, Uzbekistan, and Kyrgyzstan, and on the Caspian Sea,” Tokayev said.
