MINSK, 14 February (BelTA) - Maksim Yermolovich, member of the Board (Minister) for Competition and Antimonopoly Regulation of the Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC), spoke about ways to deepen industrial cooperation in the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) during a press conference on 14 February, BelTA has learned.
According to Maksim Yermolovich, today's meeting with Deputy Prime Minister Igor Petrishenko is focused on the preparations for the Eurasian Economic Forum, scheduled for May 2025. “Belarus is presiding in the Eurasian Economic Union in 2025. First of all, 2025 is the final year to complete the implementation of the EAEU development strategy. It is necessary to take stock of the five-year work on integration. Besides, the year 2025 is marking the 80th anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War. That is why last December the Belarusian president invited the EAEU heads of state to attend the forum in Minsk.
Having already worked out various options for holding the forum, today we want to discuss what it will be called, what goals will be set, what kind of program will be planned. And, of course, we will see where to hold this forum in the first place.
“We are considering the Minsk International Exhibition Center, which already holds exhibitions on a regular basis,” he said.
As for the common markets in the EAEU, it was originally envisaged to implement the principle of four freedoms - the free movement of goods, capital, people and services throughout the Eurasian space. Today, this space includes five countries - Belarus, Armenia, Russia, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. The observers are Cuba, Iran and Uzbekistan.
“Our family is already big enough. The Union has more than 180 million people - it is a large capacious market that is quite self-sufficient. In addition, in order to ensure free movement of capital, people, goods and services, we are talking about a transition to more in-depth industrial cooperation. This means we need to set up joint ventures, ensure food security, technological sovereignty. Our task today is to make the best use of integration to become more industrially strong, technologically sovereign, provide our citizens with cheap and high-quality food and ensure the full volume of food production on the territory of the Union,” said Maksim Yermolovich.
Today different options are considered on how to realize this, he added. “There are mechanisms to support such cooperation projects in the Eurasian Economic Union with the help of the EAEU budget. There are financial instruments, but the number of projects is still insufficient. Therefore, the Belarusian president quite rightly points out that we need to deepen this cooperation, move to real projects, large-scale ones, which will let the whole union become stronger, more independent and ensure a high level of welfare for its citizens,” he concluded.
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