MINSK, 14 April (BelTA) - The role of the Eurasian Development Bank (EDB) and the Eurasian Fund for Stabilization and Development (EFSD) must be strengthened in order to deal with the negative impact of COVID-19, Kyrgyzstan President Sooronbay Jeenbekov said as he addressed a video conference working meeting of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council on 14 April, BelTA has learned.
The Kyrgyzstan leader believes that in the current conditions it is necessary to redirect the work of the EAEU financial institutions. “I think it is time to rethink some of the working principles of the EFSD. It needs to reduce the time frame for processing loan applications for budgetary support in crisis situations, to increase the share of funding on a grant basis. The Eurasian Development Bank can play an important role in devising new mechanisms to support small and medium-sized businesses,” the Kyrgyzstan president said.
He also believes that the EAEU common market should function without barriers, restrictions and withdrawals. “Restrictions on the export or import of goods can be justified only in relation to third countries. We have every opportunity in the union to provide the member states with food staples. The EAEU should be free from restrictions in mutual trade in socially important goods,” the president of Kyrgyzstan stressed.
In a situation of general isolation and forced closure of borders between countries, he suggested organizing green corridors and defining a list of goods that would move freely along them. Kyrgyzstan's initiatives also included joint work by medical services and the zeroing of customs duties in the EAEU for medical supplies and socially important goods.
