Belarus’ vice premier: CIS trade in services agreement almost agreed
Igor Petrishenko. An archive photo
MOSCOW, 24 September (BelTA) – The CIS agreement on a free trade zone in services has been almost agreed upon by experts, Belarus’ Deputy Prime Minister Igor Petrishenko told the media as he commented on the results of the meeting of the CIS Economic Council held under his chairmanship in Moscow on 24 September, BelTA has learned.
“Today we have focused on the necessity to intensify our work to further promote cooperation within the CIS which will celebrate its 30th anniversary this year. In a narrow-format meeting we have heard out the information on the implementation of the initiatives voiced by Belarus in terms of its program of presidency and by the heads of state as part of their instructions to the CIS Executive Committee. The current topic that we have initiated is to accelerate the signing of the agreement on a free trade zone in services. We are pleased to note that this document has almost been agreed upon at the expert level,” said Igor Petrishenko.
The vice premier added that the document would be submitted to the CIS countries for internal approval. Then it will be included to the agenda of the next meeting of the CIS Economic Council in December. “The relevant information will be reported to the CIS heads of state at a meeting in Minsk on 15 October,” Igor Petrishenko said.
The participants of the session also heard out the CIS Council on Atomic Energy report. “This issue is relevant for all the CIS countries, especially for Belarus in connection with the commissioning of the first power unit of its nuclear power plant. These are both issues of safety and personnel training,” the deputy prime minister said.
Among the topics discussed he also mentioned innovative cooperation. Chairman of the Interstate Council for Cooperation in Science, Technology and Innovation, Chairman of the State Committee on Science and Technology of Belarus Aleksandr Shumilin and President of the Russian Academy of Sciences Alexander Sergeev presented a draft comprehensive action plan for 2021-2025 for implementation of the CIS interstate innovative cooperation program until 2030 at the meeting.
“All the elements that were laid down in the program of the Belarusian presidency have been considered today. We have agreed to further intensify the work of sectoral cooperation bodies to ensure the successful development of our integration processes within the CIS,” said Igor Petrishenko.
