The EurAsEc Upgrading Its Mechanism for Optimising International Trade

The Eurasian Economic Community (EurAsEC) is actively working to upgrade its mechanism for optimising international trade in conditions of exacting a value added tax (VAT) in the country of the destination of goods.

EurAsEC Secretary General Grigory Rapota spoke about it on Tuesday.

Speaking at the session of the presidium of the Council of the International Congress of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, he also underscored that the absence of an efficiently functioning mechanism that would confirm the fact of export for compensating the VAT has a negative effect on trade inside the Commonwealth.

According to Grigory Rapota, "this can be seen from a certain drop in trade between the EurAsEC countries and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS)." At the same time, the EurAsEC Secretary General informed the session participants about the preparations for the first international Economic Forum which will take place in Moscow in February.

The decision on holding the Forum was taken at a session of the Inter-State Council of the EurAsEC at a level of the heads of government in Astana in September last year.

The priority task of the Forum, according to Grigory Rapota, is to exchange views on the prospects of integration cooperation in the Eurasian space and to work out recommendations aimed at establishing a stable development of the economies of EurAsEC member-countries.

Apart from that, the Forum is called upon to help further deepen economic integration, continue concerted market reforms, expand cooperation between the business quarters of the EurAsEC countries, and create conditions for attracting investments in the interests of implementing concrete projects and programmes.

The member-countries of the EurAsEC are Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kirghizia, Russia and Tajikistan. Moldova and Ukraine have a status of observers in the EurAsEC.