On November 29, Vladimir Salamatov, General Director of the International Trade and Integration Research Center (ITI), acted as moderator at the «Promoting EDB member states’ exports in foreign markets» section of the 14th Annual International Conference «Eurasian Economic Integration» which took place in Moscow.
The speakers discussed a range of pressing issues which, if solved, would speed up growth of trade within EAEU, thus making it possible to reach the targets set in the International Cooperation and Exports national project. As Vladimir Salamatov reminded the audience, the national project stipulates that by 2024 the volume of non-commodity non-energy exports should grow to USD 250 bn, the share of non-commodity non-energy exports in GDP to 20%, and the volume of trade turnover between Russia and the EAEU states to USD 78.8 bn.
At the moment, several instruments of support for exports are already functioning in the EAEU. They are aimed at supporting exports of domestically and jointly produced goods based on their competitive strengths, bearing in mind the tasks of import substitution and non-commodity exports development. In addition, the Union has a number of trade agreements — with Vietnam, Iran, Singapore, and Serbia.
However, experts observe that isolated initiatives don’t bring systemic results, thus leading to lost profits of the exporting countries. This is why representatives of the Eurasian Economic Commission stated that it would be advisable to formulate a coordinated strategy for developing exports which would include basic support mechanisms, including those which are already functioning (for example, joint dealerships and service networks, certification centers, consortiums and associations of retail companies, enhanced information support for EAEU exporters, etc.).
Apart from these issues, a considerable part of the discussion was devoted to the development of transport and logistics infrastructure for supplies of goods to external markets and expanding mutual trade and exports. It will be recalled that the Annual International Conference «Eurasian Economic Integration», held under the auspices of the Eurasian Development Bank (EDB), took place for the 14th time this year. The participants included heads of ministries and state agencies, members of international financial organizations, industry experts, and representatives of the business community of the EDB member states.
During the conference, the attendees discussed a wide range of issues — from digitization of the common financial space to humanitarian activities. For more information about the programme of the event, see the official website of the
Annual International Conference «Eurasian Economic Integration».