Minister of Trade and Integration of the Republic of Kazakhstan Bakhyt Sultanov spoke at the CIS Economic Forum.
The meeting was also attended by representatives of the Executive Committee and the CIS countries: First Deputy Minister of Economy of the Republic of Belarus Mr. Yu. Chebotar, Economy Minister of the Kyrgyz Republic Mr. S. Mukanbetov, State Secretary of the Ministry of Economy and Infrastructure of the Republic of Moldova Mr. V. Tarlev, Plenipotentiary Representative of the Russian Federation in the Commission on Economic Affairs under the CIS Economic Council Mr. V. Vorobyev, Minister of Economic Development and Trade of the Republic of Tajikistan Ms. Z. Zavkizoda, Minister of Trade and Foreign Economic Relations of Turkmenistan Mr. O. Gurbannazarov, and Deputy Chairman of the Executive Committee – CIS Executive Secretary Mr. S. Ivanov.
During the Forum, issues of strengthening trade, economic, investment and industrial cooperation in the context of the COVID-l9 pandemic were discussed. As well as the development of cooperation in the logistics sector and in the field of digital technologies and online trading platforms and services.
Speaking at the CIS Economic Forum, the Head of the Ministry of Trade of the Republic of Kazakhstan noted that “the coronavirus has exposed all our vulnerabilities and showed an insufficient degree of integration and interaction of our economies.”
“The share of mutual trade of the CIS member states in total foreign trade amount of the Commonwealth in 2019 amounted to 18.4%. This is 2.5% less than in 2010. The same indicator of the EU countries was 60.7% last year, NAFTA – 40.1%, ASEAN – 22%, ” said Bakhyt Sultanov.
According to him, the countries should focus on deepening regional integration, creating favorable conditions for the development of industrial cooperation and diversification of commodity flow structures. “We consider it is necessary to strengthen the factor of self-sufficiency of the Commonwealth of our countries,” added Mr. Sultanov.
The Minister of Trade and Integration of the Republic of Kazakhstan suggested the CIS member states to join efforts to ensure food security of the Commonwealth countries.
“We are putting forward an initiative to create an interstate distribution system,” stated Mr. Sultanov.
He explained that national distribution systems are already being created by Kazakhstan, Russia, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan. Combining large wholesale distribution and agro-logistics centers of the states with a single information system will allow countries to quickly exchange data on the available and projected production amounts, on the product types, quality and cost, and will also enable the introduction of an electronic trading platform.
In addition, a single interstate commodity transmission system will allow the CIS countries to combine agricultural producers, exporters, importers, buyers and logistics companies into a single international pool, which will facilitate the export of goods to third countries.
As part of the development of cross-border trade, Bakhyt Sultanov proposed creating cross-border wholesale distribution centers. “Such centers can be created on the basis of projects implemented in the border states. For example, the International Center for Trade and Economic Cooperation “Central Asia” (ICTEC) on the Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan border, in the area of the busiest and largest crossing points on the Kazakh-Kyrgyz border, ” suggested Minister Sultanov.
The Minister of Trade and Integration of the Republic of Kazakhstan also supported of the regionalization of production processes and industrial cooperation of the CIS countries. According to him, this will allow not only to establish high-tech production, but also to attract investments in the countries of the Commonwealth.
“The structure of the competitive advantages of our countries and a wide raw material base allow us to form a joint investment product and attract production assets displaced from South-East Asia, China and other regions,” said Mr. Sultanov. According to him, “the current trend for the redistribution of global trade processes should be used for creation of centers of competence in priority industries, and for making new and expanding current industrial links.”
The third promising area of cooperation is digital technologies in trade. “Our countries have a common conceptual field regarding the use of digital technologies for the development of e-commerce,” Bakhyt Sultanov said, urging his colleagues to “update the legal framework that will simplify e-commerce procedures, provide access to finance, counter cybercrime, and create conditions for our entrepreneurs to enter the world’s electronic trading platforms. “
“The main thing in mutual trade is the elimination of barriers. Digitalization is the most realistic tool for this task,” the Minister said.
“It is obvious that the world economy will no longer be the same,” concluded the Head of the Ministry of Trade and Integration of the Republic of Kazakhstan. “In this regard, today, more than ever, it is important to actively use such advantages of the Commonwealth as strategic partnership, an extensive regulatory framework, geographical proximity, well-established transport infrastructure”.