“The EAEU - new prospects for international integration: opportunities for business” Conference with this title was held in the MCCI.
Moderator of the event, the Director of the Department of Foreign Economic Activity and International Cooperation of the MCCI, Mr. Vladislav Mishchenko, noted that during the Conference, it would be interesting to hear about trade, infrastructural, legal opportunities, as well as to note the actual existing barriers that need to be worked out with all the stakeholders. “We would also like to hear proposals from the business audience for cooperation within the EAEU and about promising industrial projects,” Mr. Mishchenko said.
Mr. Vladimir Platonov, the President of the MCCI, addressed the participants of the event with a welcoming speech: “Today, we have gathered and invited experts to listen and discuss the problems faced by the EAEU. These are friends, who understand each other, who find themselves in constraining conditions. But we have a common history and notable successes in the joint development of market economy”. He emphasized that the MCCI is always ready to listen and answer questions, and that the work is not limited to the current Conference - the Moscow CCI can be contacted at any time with questions and problems in order to jointly solve them.
Mr. Dmitry Volvach, the Deputy Minister of Economic Development of Russia, noted that the geo-economic landscape has been changing rapidly in recent years. “This change has shown how successful and effective various integration formats can be. When regional integration is balanced and built on the principles of mutual benefits and respect for the interests of all partner countries, this regional partnership allows not only to strengthen the advantages that individual countries have, but also to compensate for the weaknesses of an economy and even to create additional points of growth to form new logistics’ routes and value chains,” said Mr.Volvach.
He added that the Eurasian Union, not only at the regional, but also at the international level, is a constructive and authoritative participant in international economic relations. The Union is not just an established international organization; it has managed to pass through tests and has demonstrated its stability, sustainability, flexibility and has consolidated its status as a serious, key integration driver. Mr.Volvach cited figures that show the effective work of the EAEU.
Mr. Vladimir Padalko, the Vice-President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation, who delivered a welcoming speech, noted: “We are actively working with our EAEU partners not only in the bilateral format, but also on the platform of the Advisory Council of the Chambers of the EAEU’s member states.
In his speech, he noted that the development of business cooperation with the EAEU countries is one of the main directions of the international activities of the Russian CCI system.
Mr. Padalko said that the experts of the RF CCI system participate in the development of solutions in the field of customs and trade policy, determination of common approaches to the development of the agro-industrial and transportation complex, technical regulation, creation of a single market of services and energy resources, development of e-commerce within the Union.
Decisions made by the Union's bodies have a significant impact on the business environment, and it is important that these decisions take into account the interests of domestic businesses.
Mr. Padalko suggested holding a series of practical webinars with entrepreneurs “to help them understand at what stage the whole work with the Eurasian Economic Council in general and with the Commission in particular is today”. Mr. Platonov, in his response, once again, reminded that the MCCI is the platform, to which entrepreneurs turn to with their problems. “And our task, together with the CCI RF, is to address the ministries and to draw their attention in order to mitigate these problems”, - explained the pPresident of the MCCI.
Mr. Ivan Timofeev, the Director General of the Russian International Affairs Council, spoke about the risks of global sanctions and ways to overcome them at the level of integration processes.
The Deputy Head of the Analytical Department of the Federal Customs Service of Russia, Ms. Tatyana Merkushova noted: “For our part, we examine the problematic issues that we see, as well as developing direction strategic documents.
Now, the strategic direction of development of Eurasian integration until 2025 is being implemented”. She said that the Customs Code, which is to be agreed by the end of this year, contains many new amendments. Some problematic issues are still being discussed. In addition, Ms.Merkushova said that work is underway to develop e-commerce, create secure supply networks, develop transit potential, develop informational systems of interaction with customs’ services and other state controlling bodies. “We are waiting to hear your concerns and are ready to cooperate in solving them,” Ms. Merkushova told the participants of the event.
Mr. Platonov separately thanked the representative of the Federal Customs Service of Russia for the willingness to hear feedback. “The Chamber of Commerce and Industry has an opportunity to consolidate the problems faced by entrepreneurs,” he said.
In addition, the President of the MCCI drew attention to the experience of Belarusian colleagues, who, for their part, are effectively solving the problem of cross-border passage of goods by creating an electronic system. “Is it possible to initiate a solution to this problem and involve the business community?”, - inquired Mr.Platonov.
Ms. Merkusheva responded that this problem does exist, and the Customs Service “advocates at the EAEU level to unify the requirements for checkpoints, increasing their capacity. Thus, the work on unification of requirements is already underway, however, the Federal Customs Service can only send its proposals to the Ministry of Transportation, which is responsible for the arrangement of checkpoints within the Russian Federation.
“We are ready to join this crucial work. It is disquieting to see queues, to hear about problems, to receive appeals from entrepreneurs that cargoes are spoiled and time is simply lost,” said Mr. Platonov.
Another pressing problem is cross-border currency transactions. Trade presupposes the presence of banking and payment infrastructure. And the situation is dynamically changing every day. Andrey Korzhenevsky, an expert of the Edelweiss Financial Group, spoke about financial transactions in export-import operations.
Mr. Oleg Chernyshev, the Chairman of the MCCI Committee for Sustainable Development of the Real Sector of the Economy and Investment Activity, spoke about the opportunities for business cooperation within the framework of the strategic directions for the development of Eurasian economic integration until 2030.
Concluding the event, Mr.Mishchenko urged entrepreneurs to contact the MCCI with feedback on industrial projects and existing barriers to their implementation.
The event was supported by the Moscow City Government and the Department of Economic Policy and Development of the City of Moscow