Kassym-Jomart Tokayev calls for removal of barriers in EAEU mutual trade
Addressing the regular meeting of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council in Saint Petersburg, President Tokayev emphasized that it is time to completely eradicate the practice of creating administrative barriers in mutual trade, Qazinform News Agency learned from the Akorda press service.
Kassym-Jomart Tokayev stressed that the time has come to fully eliminate administrative barriers in mutual trade.
“Artificial restrictions on the movement of citizens and kilometer-long queues of freight transport at borders must be removed. Customs regulation and state control measures (transport, sanitary, veterinary, and phytosanitary) should not be used as tools to push through certain decisions within the union. Throughout the period of the EAEU existence, a significant number of documents has been adopted aimed at ensuring a barrier-free trading environment. It is necessary to strictly observe mutual obligations and promptly eliminate ‘bottlenecks.’ To quickly identify potential barriers, the Commission should consider the possibility of using artificial intelligence technologies to monitor legislative initiatives of EAEU countries. Full-fledged functioning of a single barrier-free market and ensuring free transit of goods must remain unconditional priorities. Our citizens and businesses should feel the practical benefits of integration,” said the Head of State.
According to Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, it is also necessary to actively expand the geography of trade and economic cooperation.
“This year, a Free Trade Agreement with Mongolia and an Economic Partnership Agreement with the United Arab Emirates were signed. Today, a similar agreement with Indonesia will be signed. We welcome this fact. It is an important result of our joint work and evidence of the growing interest of third countries in deepening trade relations with the Eurasian Economic Union. In the foreseeable future, we consider it important to expand the union’s interaction with countries of the Global South, the Arab world, Southeast Asia, and Africa. Special attention should be paid to cooperation with such important associations as the SCO, ASEAN, and others,” the President added.
Earlier, in his speech, the President of Kazakhstan noted that the EAEU countries' aggregate GDP may increase by 2% in 2025. He also proposed AI integration into core EAEU activities.
The President emphasized that the EAEU could emerge as a global transport and logistics hub.
