Under the chairmanship of Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, a regular session of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council (SEEC) was held in the video conferencing mode, Kazpravda.kz reports with reference to the RK President’s press service.
The event was attended by the Honorary Chairman of the SEEC, First President of Kazakhstan - Nursultan Nazarbayev, Presidents of the Russian Federation- Vladimir Putin, of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko, Kyrgyz Republic Sadyr Zhaparov, Acting Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan, Board Chairman of the Eurasian Economic Commission Mikhail Myasnikovich, as well as the heads of the EAEU observer states, President of Cuba Miguel Diaz-Canel Bermudez and President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev.
Addressing the meeting, Tokayev noted that the pandemic and the measures taken to combat it had interrupted the process of globalization and changed the structure of the world economic order. In these conditions, it is necessary to find an effective solution to the most pressing issue: how to overcome the consequences of the crisis and take the path of economic recovery and development, to ensure a high-quality and timely implementation of the Union Development Strategy.
Tokayev said that on the way to post-crisis recovery it is necessary to systematically tackle the "sore" problem of barriers to mutual trade, the number of which has significantly grown during the lockdown period.
"These restrictions harm development of trade- economic relations, limit the potential for growth and development. Kazakhstan, like the rest of the Union member states, advocates creation of equal and non-discriminatory conditions for all market participants. The Commission's fight against barriers is ongoing, but it cannot be called particularly effective. It is a fight against the consequences of decisions taken at the national level, "the President of Kazakhstan emphasized. According to the UN data, he quoted, at the end of 2020 world food prices turned out to be the highest in the last three years. Food demand is expected to grow by more than 35% by 2030.
"Each of our countries has the potential to increase food production. At the same time, restrictive measures to protect the internal market can lead to curbing the development of the agro-industrial complex and to food shortages. Of course, in some exceptional cases, their temporary use is justified. At the same time, I think that such restrictions should not apply to the countries of our Union," Tokayev noted.
He proposed to enhance interaction of agricultural scientific institutions, to intensify measures to increase the export of agricultural products to third countries’ markets in order to ensure food security of countries, support the potential of the agro-industrial sector, reduce costs and, accordingly, prices for key commodities.
"The Eurasian countries have to fully tap their transit potential. I again propose to speed up work on upgrading cross-border sections of transport arteries. In particular, to complete reconstruction of the Western Europe - Western China highway throughout the territory of the Eurasian Economic Union," the President urged. Kazakhstan will continue to make every effort to develop the Union into an effective, authoritative organization for economic integration, he pledged.
Reported by the Kazakhstanskaya Pravda.
