Addressing the final 2025 meeting of the CIS Economic Council held on December 5, CIS Secretary-General Sergey Lebedev noted that “important decisions approved at the autumn meetings of the Commonwealth’s supreme bodies have been promptly taken up for implementation by the Commonwealth states, sectoral cooperation bodies and the Executive Committee. During the exchange of views at those meetings, the heads of state and government put forward a number of initiatives, which have been systematized and active work on them is underway”.
Sergey Lebedev stated that “one of the key documents of our economic agenda is the Action Plan for the Implementation of the Second Phase of the CIS Economic Development Strategy until 2030, approved by the heads of government.
Through the joint efforts of the Executive Committee, the economic departments of our countries and relevant sectoral councils, action algorithms ensuring the execution of nearly 400 positions in the Plan, as well as specific implementers, have been defined for each”.
The CIS Secretary-General reported that regarding the proposed initiatives, it has been suggested to concentrate joint efforts on several priority areas.
The first of these is creating favorable conditions for boosting mutual trade.
President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev proposed “launching, within the framework of the CIS Economic Council, rapid response mechanisms to changes in the external environment and reorienting trade flows”.
To find additional sources of economic growth for the Commonwealth countries, the Executive Committee will undoubtedly assist Kazakh and Uzbek colleagues in preparing and conducting a “sort of brainstorming session” on the sidelines of the Astana International Forum and the CIS Innovative Industry Forum as part of the “INNOPROM” exhibition in Tashkent.
An important initiative from Kazakh colleagues is holding Commonwealth fairs. The expert development of the draft Regulations on the Interstate Event “Commonwealth Fair” has been completed, and the draft has been sent to the states for approval.
The Executive Committee is considering the possibility of implementing an information section on its internet resources about small and medium-sized business development policy to facilitate experience exchange among entrepreneurs and find business partners within the Commonwealth space.
Sergey Lebedev also touched upon cooperation in the transport sector. “Issues regarding the preparation of a Unified Digital Transport and Logistics Map of the Commonwealth and the creation of transport and logistics centers integrated with all modes of transport have been taken up for development. These are proposals from Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, respectively. They are currently being discussed within the framework of the Coordination Transport Meeting”.
The CIS Secretary-General noted that “our joint work with the Council on the Agro-Industrial Complex continues on another initiative from Uzbekistan – the Cooperation Programme in Food Security.
The Executive Committee is actively working on implementing the decisions adopted by the CIS supreme bodies and the initiatives of the heads of state and government, promptly takes up all proposals and initiatives from the Commonwealth’s supreme bodies for development, and organizes their implementation”, – concluded Sergey Lebedev.