21 April 2020
Within the framework of the Presidency of the Republic of Belarus in the Eurasian Economic Union, the Belarusian Chamber of Commerce and Industry has approached the national chambers of the EAEU member states with the proposal to join efforts and to take some joint measures aimed at strengthening cooperation and assisting businessmen in addressing the challenges caused by the complex epidemiological situation in the world.
The idea was welcomed by all the chambers of commerce and industry of the EAEU members. In order to make specific decisions on its practical implementation, a videoconference-format meeting of the Advisory Council of the EAEU Member States’ Chambers was held by the BelCCI on April 17.
Participating in the meeting were the Chairman of the Board of the Eurasian Economic Commission, Mikhail Myasnikovich, a Member of the EEC Board – Minister for Internal Markets, Informatization, Information and Communication Technologies, Gegham Vardanyan, a Member of the EEC Board – Minister in charge of Competition and Antitrust Regulation, Serik Zhumangarin, Member of the Board – Minister for Trade of the EEC, Andrei Slepnev, Member of the Board – Minister for Technical Regulation of the EEC, Victor Nazarenko, the BelCCI Chairman, Vladimir Ulakhovich, the President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Kyrgyz Republic, Marat Sharshekeyev, the President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation, Sergey Katyrin, Acting Vice President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Republic of Armenia, Karen Ivanov, Deputy Chairman of the Board of the National Chamber of Entrepreneurs of the Republic of Kazakhstan “Atameken”, Evgeny Bolgert, Vice President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Padalko. As an observer, the President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Republic of Moldova, Sergiu Harea, also participated in the Advisory Council meeting.
“The Advisory Council may become a kind of a headquarters to accumulate the problems and challenges businesses face and to work out the possible solutions for the states’ governments and the EEC. We need to contemplate the creation of an organizationally structured form of integration of the EAEU chambers of commerce and industry to express the consolidated opinion of the business community of our states. As soon as we really come closer to the barrier-free labour market, we will have to address this issue anyway. You should think about it,” Mikhail Myasnikovich told the heads of the CCIs.
At the meeting, the participants considered joint preparation by the chambers of commerce and industry of the proposals to be included in a package of measures to promote the economic stability of the EAEU during the crisis. The proposals will be formed based on the analysis of the business representatives’ appeals on such issues as opportunities, needs and problems of cooperation with partners within the EAEU; barriers to trade and movement in the territories of the EAEU countries of medical and other goods of high demand due to the coronavirus pandemic; proposals for intensifying the integration process and for accelerating the formation of the single economic space within the EAEU, and others. Besides, the participants addressed the issues related to the promotion of ongoing interaction of the entrepreneurs, including through the holding of events of any level using digital technologies; the issuance of force majeure certificates on the most favorable terms, and mutual counselling programs for business community representatives.
As the result of the meeting, it was decided that the Advisory Council will act as a standing coordination body, and the address of the heads of the national chambers of commerce and industry of the Eurasian Economic Union member states to businessmen was prepared.