High turnout expected at CIS Heads of Government Council session in Kazakhstan on 29 May
"Intensive preparations for the session are in progress. We expect a high level of representation. Seven heads of government have already confirmed their participation," said Sergei Lebedev. The session of the CIS Heads of Government Council will table over 20 draft documents that regulate cooperation between the countries, primarily in economic affairs. "Discussing the joint action plan of the CIS member states to resolve topical issues in the financial and economic sphere will be the question number one," said the Chairman of the CIS Executive Committee, according to BelTA .
The official briefly mentioned the prehistory of the document's development. Due to economic difficulties that emerged in the Commonwealth of Independent States in 2014 the heads of government instructed the CIS Executive Committee and the CIS member states to arrange a meeting of representatives of financial and economic agencies. The meeting took place in December 2014. Heads of the ministries of finance and economy decided to prepare a joint action plan. The relevant draft was prepared then. After that it was approved by the CIS Economic Council in March 2015. "Now the heads of government will give the final look to the document and we hope they will approve it," said Sergei Lebedev. According to the CIS Executive Committee Chairman, the action plan is kind of a program meant to address topical problems in the financial and economic sphere. He said he hopes the document would help the CIS member states to resolve the existing problems and will contribute to the expansion of economic cooperation between the countries on the whole. The agenda of the session of the CIS Heads of Government Council includes other items, too. The heads of government are expected to determine the main directions for cooperation in the forestry industry and the timber industry for the next ten years. Drafts of the concept for interregional and borderline cooperation between the CIS member states till 2020 and the action plan to implement it will be discussed. The session will also table the draft concept for setting up and developing an interstate system for training, retraining and advanced training of personnel in the sphere of intellectual property. A block of documents on humanitarian affairs has been prepared. In particular, the heads of government will discuss the draft guidelines for cooperation in cultural affairs in 2016-2020. As far as security is concerned, participants of the session of the CIS Heads of Government Council will discuss transport security in the CIS states in international transportation, control and assessment of radioactive, chemical and biological environment, the development of military sports in the CIS armies, and the keeping of record of third-country citizens and stateless persons, who enter the Commonwealth of Independent States.
