Bakhyt Sultanov: commodity Distribution systems of the CIS countries should be United

Minister of trade and integration of the Republic of Kazakhstan Bakhyt Sultanov spoke at the CIS Economic forum, which was held today in a video conference format.

The meeting was also attended by representatives of the Executive Committee and CIS countries: First Deputy Minister of economy of the Republic of Belarus Y. Chebotar, Minister of economy of the Kyrgyz Republic S. Mukanbetov, State Secretary of the Ministry of economy and infrastructure of the Republic of Moldova V. Tarlev, Plenipotentiary representative of the Russian Federation in the Commission on economic issues at the CIS Economic Council V.Vorobyov, Minister of economic development and trade of the Republic of Tajikistan Z.Sakizaya and the Minister of trade and foreign economic relations of Turkmenistan O. Gurbannazarov and Deputy Chairman of the Executive Committee – CIS Executive Secretary 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 platforms for trade and services.

Speaking at the CIS Economic forum, the head of the Ministry of trade of the Republic of Kazakhstan noted that " the coronacrisis 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 the total volume of foreign trade 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%, " Bakhyt Sultanov said.

According to him, countries need to focus on deepening regional integration, creating favorable conditions for the development of industrial cooperation and diversification of commodity flow structures. "We consider it necessary to strengthen the self - sufficiency factor of the Commonwealth of our countries," Sultanov said.

The Minister of trade and integration of the Republic of Kazakhstan invited 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 commodity distribution system," Sultanov said.

He explained that national commodity 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 available and projected volumes, types of products, quality and cost, as well as enable the introduction of an electronic trading platform.

In addition, a single interstate commodity distribution 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 to create cross-border wholesale and distribution centers. "Such centers can be created on the basis of projects implemented in border States. For example, the international center for trade and economic cooperation "Central Asia" (ICTES) on the border of Kazakhstan with Uzbekistan, in the area of the busiest and largest crossing points on the Kazakh-Kyrgyz border, " Minister Sultanov suggested.

The Minister of trade and integration of the Republic of Kazakhstan also supported the regionalization of production processes and industrial cooperation of the CIS member States. According to him, this will allow not only to establish high-tech production, but also to attract investment to the CIS countries.

"The structure of our countries' competitive advantages and broad raw material base allow us to form a joint investment product and attract production assets shifted from Southeast Asia, China and other regions, " Sultanov said. According to him, "the current trend of redistributing global trade processes should be used to create centers of competence in priority industries, form new and expand existing industrial ties."

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, calling on 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 exclusion of barriers. Digitalization is the most real tool for this task, " the Minister said.

"It is obvious that the world economy will not be the same," the head of the Ministry of trade and integration of Kazakhstan concluded. "In this regard, today, more than ever, it is important to actively use the advantages of the Commonwealth – strategic partnership, extensive legal framework, geographical proximity, and well-established transport infrastructure."

Press service

Ministry of trade and integration of the Republic of Kazakhstan

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