Belarus PM identifies CIS’ economic cooperation priorities in Moscow

Priority avenues of development of economic cooperation between countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) were identified by Prime Minister of Belarus Roman Golovchenko at a session of the CIS Heads of Government Council in Moscow on 12 December, BelTA has learned.

The first avenue is to ensure technological sovereignty in the CIS space. “One of the key components is efficient manufacturing cooperation. Last year we adopted a concept for promoting manufacturing cooperation and a complex of measures to advance it till 2030 in a very timely manner. It is necessary to focus on such economy branches as microelectronics, machine tools production, and aircraft manufacturing. This is why the signing of the agreement on the development of civilian shipbuilding today should also make a contribution to the advancement of cooperation in the scientific and technical field and in the field of technology. It is important to fill this agreement later on with appropriate sectoral programs. We have a sectoral council on cooperation in science, technology, and innovations while many scientific institutions have been given the status of basic CIS organizations. This is why it is advisable to utilize science as actively as possible for the sake of prompt assimilation of inventions and R&D products by the manufacturing sector,” he said.

Another important avenue is the removal of the lingering barriers in mutual trade. “We see the operation of the high-level working group in charge of discussing the existing trade barriers in a positive light. A protocol decision has been prepared for signing. It suggests considering the possibility of starting negotiations on amending the Free Trade Zone Treaty of 2011. We expect to hear results of the work on amending this treaty at the next session of the [CIS Heads of Government] Council,” the prime minister noted.

In his words, the agreement on free trade in services has already come into effect for five countries: Armenia, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Tajikistan. “We hope that Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan will complete ratification procedures as soon as possible. After that we will continue working on further liberalization of mutual trade in services,” the Belarusian head of government added.

Roman Golovchenko said he believes that it is deemed justified to pay more attention to the promotion of mutual investments. The purpose will be served by an update of the agreement on cooperation in investment activities, which was signed back in 1993, and by the implementation of comprehensive measures to attract and stimulate mutual investments in the CIS in the period till 2030.

“Food availability is a matter of national security for any country. It is also a topical matter for our countries. This is why we welcome the work on a new edition of the draft agreement on interstate mutual relations in matters of agribusiness. Transport and logistics also represent a most important field. This is why a memorandum on cooperation in the digital transformation of the transport complex, which we will sign today, will contribute to integration and security of transport systems in the region,” Roman Golovchenko stressed.

He also stated it is necessary to improve the work of sectoral councils and bolster their efficiency. “The sectoral councils should feel the need to get together, discuss things, and push important topical issues,” the prime minister added.

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