Bakhyt Sultanov: Business is the key beneficiary and driving force of Eurasian integration

The development of trade and investment cooperation between Kazakhstan and Russia was the main issue which was discussed at the business dialogue “Kazakhstan - Vector of Opportunities” held on September 24 in Moscow.

The event was attended by representatives of the public sector of both countries, the “Atameken” National Chamber of Entrepreneurs of the Republic of Kazakhstan, and companies from the machine-building, metallurgical, chemical and agro-industrial.

Minister for Economy and Financial Policy of the Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC) Bakhyt Sultanov, speaking at the plenary session, emphasized that the Commission is actively working to improve the business environment within the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU).
He noted that entrepreneurs are the main beneficiaries of the positive effects of integration, and business, in turn, becomes a driving force that ensures the EAEU's economic relevance.

In the Minister's opinion, one of the key instruments of cooperation between the Commission and the business community is the procedure of regulatory impact assessment (RIA) of the EEC draft decisions, introduced in 2015. He pointed out that more than half of the business community's proposals were accounted for when developing the Commission's regulatory acts. Since the start of work on the removal of the barriers to free access to markets starting from 2016, more than 60 such barriers have been removed, which facilitated the entrepreneurs' activities significantly.

An important step for business development, according to Bakhyt Sultanov, was the establishment of a unified services market in the EAEU, which already covers 142 sectors.

He also spoke about the Commission's digital agenda, citing as an example the project to create an ecosystem of EAEU digital transport corridors to develop transit potential and optimise logistics chains.
Another important project, in the EEC Minister's words, is the Digital Technical Regulation within the EAEU, which will provide entrepreneurs with access to regulatory and technical documents in electronic form, speeding up the launch of new products on the market in line with current requirements.

He concluded his speech by saying that entrepreneurs not only benefit from integration but are the main drivers of the process, and the joint work with Member States to remove barriers and develop the market has been bearing significant fruit.