Friday, October 6 2017 12:57

ArmInfo. Integration processes  have a positive impact on the economy of all member countries of the  EEU - the total GDP of the countries of the Union in the first half  of 2017 increased by almost 2%. This was stated by the Minister of  Industry and Trade of Russia Denis Manturov during the opening of the  second International Forum of Eurasian Partnership on October 6 in  Yerevan. According to him, the Eurasian Union strengthens its  significance every year in a global context.  "Today, we can  confidently say that the integration processes have a positive impact  on the economy of all the countries participating in the EEU. Thus,  the aggregate GDP of the states of the Union in the first half of  this year increased by about 2%, the growth in industrial production  was 2.6%, and mutual and foreign trade grew by more than a quarter,  "he said.

At the same time, Manturov especially noted the increase in the  volume of reciprocal supplies of non- primary products. While this is  a cautious trend, for which we need to jointly develop industrial  cooperation in the high-tech sectors. "First and foremost, this  applies to industries in which our countries have the greatest  potential for expanding industrial partnerships, such as automotive,  agricultural machinery, construction materials and electrical  equipment, metallurgy, machine tool and light industry," the minister  said.  According to Manturov, in order to connect the food and  technological opportunities of enterprises operating in these  sectors, the governments of the countries of the Union are working to  create Eurasian networks for industrial cooperation and technology  transfer. "These digital environments, which will begin work in the  pilot mode by the end of the year, will make it possible to take an  important step towards building an industry balance system in the  perimeter of the EEU, which will significantly reduce the risks of  excessive competition," he said. a kind of centers of competence for  general use. With this task, the state of the EAEC, in particular,  are working on the formation of the Eurasian center of machine-tool  construction and a system integrator in metallurgy. According to  Manturov, this approach, in fact, is the transition to a new model of  industrial development EEU, based on innovation and high technology.  A key role in the overflow of science results in the manufacturing  sector should play a Eurasian technology platforms.

"At the moment, 12 technical platforms have been formed in such areas  as biomedicine, photonics, space, metallurgy and new materials, LED  and supercomputer technologies. More than 1 thousand scientific and  industrial organizations of the EEU  have already participated in the  created platforms, which this year started joint implementation of  140 cooperative projects, "the minister said, further development of  work in this direction will allow us to develop new, competitive  products with a high level of localization." Firstly, we will ensure  the expansion of cooperation ties within the Unified Energy System,  and secondly, we will form the prerequisites for integrating our  enterprises into global value chains, "Denis Manturov said." At the  same time, according to the head of the Ministry of Industry and  Trade, To become a strategic vector for the development of industry  in our countries.  To this end, he urged the formation of a  supranational infrastructure for the promotion of cooperative  products in international markets in a short time. "In addition to  creating a wide range of financial instruments to support exporters,  we must move in a coordinated way towards the formation of free trade  zones with third countries.As you know, we already have such a regime  with Vietnam and negotiations are currently being conducted to  implement similar agreements with a number of other states, in  particular with India, Singapore and Serbia, "the minister said.

According to the data of the Eurasian Economic Commission, the volume  of mutual trade between Armenia and the EEU states as of the end of  2016 amounted to 392.1 million dollars, having increased by more than  1.5 times (by 53%) in comparison with the previous year. Almost all  "union" trade of Armenia falls on Russia (95%). However, the trade  turnover with other countries of the EAEC, due to the low "starting  base", also increased slightly: with Kazakhstan - by 43%, with  Belarus - by 2.1 times, and with Kyrgyzstan - almost three times.  According to the Minister for Integration and Macroeconomics of the  UNECE, Tatyana Valovaya, last year Armenia took the first place in  the EEA in terms of industrial production growth rates, which reached  6.7%. Almost in the same volume, the production of agricultural  products increased, which enabled the country to increase food  supplies to the all-Union market. Most of all, exports of fruits,  alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages increased.

The foreign trade turnover between Armenia and Russia grew by 23.5%  per annum in January-August 2017 - to $ 991.8 million. This was  caused by an increase in exports by 36.6% to $ 310 million and  imports by 18.3% to $ 681.8 million. According to the National  Statistical Service of the Republic of Armenia, on these three  indicators Russia holds the championship with a large margin. In  total, Armenia's foreign trade grew by 24.4% in January-August 2017  to $ 3.9 billion, including exports - by 21.7% to $ 1.4 billion, and  imports - by 26% to $ 2.5 billion.