Economic power of Eurasian Economic Union to be strengthened through interaction with China - Fedorov

- In their speeches participants of the VII Astana Economic Forum often noted the changes taking place in the global system of economic and political coordinates, and that most of the economic growth is occurring in developing markets. From this point of view what are the prospects of development of the Eurasian Economic Union? What opportunities and benefits does the integration within the Eurasian Economic Union provide?
Prospects of the Eurasian Economic Union are very important from the standpoint of the single market formation. This is not a one-day process. The process of co-operation at the level of a number of sectors in industry and agribusiness is worked through in detail. The search for the most beneficial both within our union and in partnership with third countries is now underway. The agreement on the Eurasian Economic Union provides additional opportunities for business cooperation between our countries, because we are talking about the formation of a single market in financial services, taking into account the development of an appropriate infrastructure in Almaty by 2025, in the electricity sector, in the field of pharmaceuticals. Single market means mobile workforce, common trade turnover in different industries and, of course, economic drive, because this is something that gives extra profit. This whole process means the joint work in many areas, because, in fact, the process of full integration on the basis of the new agreement is just beginning, we move from theory to practice as they say. And the fact that we plan to eliminate barriers today is a big plus.
- What, in your opinion, are the prospects for expanding the Eurasian Economic Union?
- Like any other integration association the union, surely, has prerequisites to expansion. We are talking about the countries of the former Soviet Union, which today have quite equal opportunities in economic development, and this factor certainly unites them. The historic mentality of our people once united and then separated 20 years ago also contributes to the unity of our economies. Without a doubt I think that the issues associated with the formation of infrastructure have historical roots and are formed on the basis of the former Soviet Union. If we talk about the expansion in terms of the formation of a single economic space, it is a question of accession of countries such as Armenia and Kyrgyzstan. By the way, the spirit of unification is quite strong in Kyrgyzstan. I think later we can also talk about the participation of Tajikistan and so on. I think this process is irreversible in terms of geographic expansion.
Today, measures are taken to create a single infrastructure with Eurasia. I must say that the strengthening of the economic power presupposes the integration with those countries that will not join the union in the near future, but with whom we have excellent relations in the field of economics. The first place in this list belongs to China, which is a driver of economic development in the Eurasian space.
Despite the regionalization towards improving human activities in the global space, the next trend of the Eurasian space development is integration into the global economy. And first of all, we are talking about cooperation in the field of innovation and high technology with countries such as the U.S. and Europe.
- Can Eurasian Economic Union become as influential as the WTO, EU and other unions?
- I think there is every reason for this economic space to get a new breath. In contrast with those countries that were once united into the European Union, the Eurasian Economic Union has fewer barriers. This is due, firstly, to the historical reasons of our common development. And secondly, we must completely understand that the infrastructure, which today is used by our states, is the infrastructure of the former Soviet Union. Mostly, this is what we use, what unites. There is no need to build new infrastructure projects to ensure that the development of this economic union. And this, in fact, is the big advantage of the Eurasian Economic Union over other associations in the world.