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.