Maxim Vorobyev, Director of Analytic Research of the International Trade and Integration Research Center (ITI) took part in the panel session "EAEU: Integration into the Global Market and Opportunities on Asia-Pacific Markets". The session was held as part of the Eurasian Week forum.
The founding principles of the Eurasian Economic Union are openness in the formation of a multilateral trade system and utilization of the opportunities provided by advanced regionalization to expand existing markets. From this perspective, integration with the APAC economies is of particular interest to EAEU member states.
"Given the instability in the global economy, which has led to low rates of international trade, we are looking for sources of growth. The markets of countries in the Asia-Pacific region are a driver of development for us due to their growing capacity and the improving prosperity of the population", Veronika Nikishina, Member of the Board – Minister in charge of Trade of the Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC), said during the event.
The volume of mutual trade between the EAEU member states and the APAC countries exceeded 294 bn dollars in 2018, which makes nearly 40% of all foreign trade turnover of the EAEU.
"Identification and removal of trade barriers for EAEU producers who supply goods to foreign markets will make it possible to speed up annual growth of mutual trade with the APAC countries", Maxim Vorobyev pointed out in his speech.
By 2019, the total number of identified non-tariff barriers on specific APAC markets reached 2919. The commodity groups of food products, chemical products, and machinery are the most susceptible.
"To raise the effectiveness of collaboration in technical regulation, it is necessary to expand information-sharing channels and ensure that the main provisions of trade policy are observed. Within international accreditation organizations, it is necessary to ensure recognition of conformity assessment procedures", Maxim Vorobyev said.
Today, APAC is a point of attraction for global integration associations. In March 2018, the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement was signed. Importantly, the participating states collectively produce 13% of global GDP.
The EAEU is actively working towards promoting free trade agreements. The first FTA was signed in 2016 with Vietnam. The Agreement on Trade and Economic Cooperation between the EAEU and the PRC will shortly come into force. Also, memorandums of cooperation have been signed with Bangladesh, Cambodia, Korea, Peru, Thailand, Chile, and Ecuador. Free trade agreements with Singapore and India are in the process of development.
All these facts suggest that entrepreneurs in the EAEU have a great potential and ample opportunity for export growth on APAC markets.
Read more in the materials of the Eurasian Economic Commission.
See more about the Eurasian Week forum in the News section on our website.