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EEC held meeting on relevant matters raised by Kazakh and Kyrgyz businesses in transportation and logistics
Arzybek Kozhoshev, EEC Minister in charge of Energy and Infrastructure, discussed with entrepreneurs of the Republic of Kazakhstan, as well as representatives of the relevant public authorities and companies of the Kyrgyz Republic and the Republic of Kazakhstan, some relevant matters and concerns of the business community in the field of transportation and logistics related to ensuring free movement of goods in the Eurasian Economic Union. The meeting was held in Almaty.
“Direct dialogue and direct contacts with participants of transport services market are very important. This is an opportunity for us to better understand the problematics of individual situations and improve the efficiency of integration work to identify and eliminate obstacles,” Arzybek Kozhoshev emphasized.
The EEC Minister noted that this year the EAEU celebrates 10 years since its foundation and reminded about the main outcomes of its work. For example, the Union's GDP grew by 12.2% in 2023 compared to 2014. The same indicator shows growth by 1.4 times in Kyrgyzstan, and by 27.8% in Kazakhstan. The increase in the industrial output for this period amounted to 22.6%. The volume of cooperative deliveries to the Union's market increased 2.3 times by 2015. The EAEU total cargo turnover increased by 9% over 10 years.
Arzybek Kozhoshev thanked the business community for their participation in shaping the meeting's agenda and noted that in present-day conditions it is extremely important to maintain a competitive environment in the market of transport and logistics services, while creating a safe and modern infrastructure, avoiding the application of any obstacles to the passage of goods in the internal markets for the Union States' companies. In order to achieve these goals, the business community should be more actively involved in integration processes.
The officials of the EEC Economy and Financial Policy Unit and the business community discussed the problems of increasing the utilization fee for motor vehicles imported into the Union countries, issuance of electronic passports for exported cargo vehicles, transit of counterfeit cigarette products, amendments to the Agreement on the principles of tax policy in the field of excise duties on tobacco and nicotine-containing products, as well as restrictions on imports of cement.
In terms of transport, the parties discussed special aspects of sectoral development of integration, issues of crossing the Russian-Belarusian state border by carriers from other EAEU countries, transportation of third-country cargo between the EAEU States, setting tariffs for rail transportation, etc.
In the future, the meeting will serve to improve the Union’s law regulating economic activity.
