Expanded meeting of the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council

The agenda is focused on current issues related to deepening Eurasian integration, including enhancing cooperation in customs regulation and administration, developing e-commerce, ensuring food security, digitalising rail freight transportation, and establishing a common financial market.

Heads of delegations participating in the expanded meeting of the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council:

Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan;

Prime Minister of the Republic of Belarus Alexander Turchin;

Prime Minister of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Chairman of the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council Olzhas Bektenov;

Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Kyrgyz Republic - Head of the Presidential Administration of the Kyrgyz Republic Adylbek Kasymaliev;

Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Mikhail Mishustin;

Minister of Industry, Mines, and Trade of the Islamic Republic of Iran Seyyed Mohammad Atabak;

Prime Minister of the Republic of Uzbekistan Abdulla Aripov;

Chairman of the Board of the Eurasian Economic Commission Bakytzhan Sagintayev;

Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Cuba to the Russian Federation Enrique Orta González.

Mikhail Mishustin's remarks:

Colleagues, meeting participants, good afternoon.

I would like to join you in thanking our esteemed Kyrgyz colleagues, Adylbek Kasymaliev, and President Sadyr Japarov for the excellent organisation of today's meeting.

As President of Russia Vladimir Putin said at the meeting of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council in Astana in May, "close-knit Eurasian integration has managed to offer tangible benefits to all participating countries, helping businesses generate higher revenue, while also improving the quality of life and wellbeing for the people of our countries."

Despite global challenges, we are observing positive macroeconomic trends. From January through May, real GDP expanded, as did industrial output, agricultural production, and retail trade. Mutual trade also continues to grow.

Colleagues, together we continue working to strengthen Eurasian integration and implement the objectives set by our presidents.

This year, Kazakhstan is chairing the Union's governing bodies. At the Eurasian Economic Forum held in Astana in late May, we adopted an important Joint Statement on the Responsible Development of Artificial Intelligence. This document sets out key principles for cooperation in this strategically important field, including the implementation of joint digital projects among our five countries.

Other areas likewise require close attention. We discussed them yesterday; above all, further strengthening industrial cooperation remains a priority. We also examined this issue in detail at the Innoprom International Industrial Exhibition held just a month ago in Yekaterinburg. Once again, I would like to thank all of you, distinguished prime ministers, for taking part in that event.

We agreed on the importance of pooling our industrial capacities, raw material resources, and human capital in order to fully unlock the industrial potential of our five countries. As President Sadyr Japarov noted today, we should pay greater attention to the localisation of industrial facilities. We need to work together to implement cooperative manufacturing projects across our member states, including in Kyrgyzstan. I propose that we continue this discussion in greater detail at the Innoprom exhibition in Belarus, where we will also convene for the meeting of the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council on 1-2 October.

Of course, we should also make more active use of the supranational mechanism to support industrial cooperation, leverage our existing research infrastructure, and promote the exchange of advanced technologies and best practices to accelerate the development of innovative products.

These objectives can and should be pursued within the framework of the Union's long-term Strategic Programme for Scientific and Technological Development, approved last year. I propose instructing the Eurasian Economic Commission to prepare a practical implementation roadmap. This will help us move more quickly towards fulfilling the agreements we have reached.

It is equally important to continue strengthening food security. The Eurasian Economic Union fully meets its domestic demand for grain, pork, poultry, milk, sugar, vegetable oils, and eggs.

We need to expand this list. To this end, farmers must be supplied with the necessary seeds and effective fertilisers. To develop livestock farming, we need safe feed and food additives and modern veterinary medicines. It is also very important that these products be manufactured domestically, so as to reduce our dependence on foreign suppliers.

I encourage our colleagues to make greater efforts to pool our expertise in the agro-industrial sector. We discussed this issue in detail yesterday as well.

Today, we are adopting a number of important decisions.

First, we will mutually recognise documents certifying academic titles. Holders of such titles who are citizens of the five EAEU countries will no longer have to undergo additional qualification procedures or deal with various bureaucratic formalities in order to work throughout the EAEU territory. Researchers, innovators and academics will have more opportunities to realise their potential, regardless of which country issued their diploma.

Second, as part of the development of a common financial market, we will enable brokers from our countries to take part in trading on the stock exchanges of all five EAEU member states, which will help expand investment cooperation.

Third, we will approve the Agreement on Electronic Trade in Goods on the Union's Internal Market. As I have noted, it is designed to protect the interests of both sellers and buyers. Businesses will operate under uniform, clear rules, while our citizens will have access to a broader and more comprehensive range of goods and products on marketplaces and electronic trading platforms.

Colleagues,

A new law on the platform economy will enter into force in Russia on October 1. It will establish transparent rules in this area. If a product is subject to EAEU technical regulations, the presence of a certificate or declaration of conformity in the Union register of conformity assessment documents, maintained by the Eurasian Economic Commission, will be checked first and foremost on our marketplaces. In this regard, I would ask you to pay particular attention to the need to update conformity assessment data for products in a timely manner, so as to ensure that goods can be sold through Russian digital trading platforms.

The introduction of digital technologies in logistics will also help increase trade. Last year, virtually all rail freight shipments between Russia and Belarus were processed using electronic documents. We are making similar progress with Kazakhstan, although the figure is somewhat lower, at 81 percent.

This approach significantly simplifies doing business and speeds up administrative procedures. We will continue to move forward in this area. I would ask our colleagues to pay attention to this. It is very important to continue this work to strengthen trade and economic cooperation both within the Union and with foreign partners, primarily the People's Republic of China, the Islamic Republic of Iran and other friendly countries.

Expanding cooperation beyond the Union is one of the priorities of our integration association. As President of Russia Vladimir Putin has stressed, many foreign countries and major regional organisations are interested in developing ties with the five EAEU countries. They are opting for reliability and predictability. We expect the number of preferential trade partners of the EAEU to continue to grow. Russia will provide the necessary support to this end.

Colleagues,

Together, we are working to fully realise the potential of every participant in the integration process and improve the quality of life of our citizens. I am confident that the Union's self-sufficiency and the complementarity of our economies will enable us to achieve this.