New group of integration

Author: VK

The World Economic Forum "Common Economic Space - a way for the integration of Eurasia" for the youth of the CIS countries was held in Moscow. For the first time the forum has been attended by the delegation from Abkhazia which is not a member of the CIS and the CES. “Despite this, people in Abkhazia watch with great interest the events that occur in the post-Soviet space, because Abkhazia is part of Eurasia”, Beslan Baratelia, Dean of the Faculty of Economics of the Abkhazian State University, told VK. “We live in a world of growing globalization. Today it is clear that it is difficult for a country to survive and compete in the stormy world of competition if it is alone. Naturally, the countries of the world should unite. Integration and globalization are moving towards regionalization.

Of course, in the post-Soviet space a new group of integration is forming which is growing out of the former Soviet Union, but, of course, at a new qualitative level. The challenges are numerous: it is a different starting level and the internal problems of the participating countries. All these problems, in principle, can be overcome, with the political will and interest of the participants. Of course, this process will be difficult and time-consuming, and its participants will face conflicts and compromises. There is experience of the successful development of integration processes in the world; in particular, I mean the European Union. I think a lot of things can be taken from this process, and many mistakes will be taken into account. But, nevertheless, we should be ready that this is a lengthy and complex process of negotiations, because, apart from the general idea of integration, each member state has its own national interests, which should also be taken into account, because we are talking about the voluntary participation of all the countries. The countries should feel that this association will bring them dividends. Most important is the process of integration and development of the Eurasian Union in question, the idea of it being attractive, and countries should strive to become members of the union. As we can see, many countries that are not EU members are trying to become members of that organization - only because they associate their future with something lighter and better. The same goes for the Eurasian space: if the Eurasian Union can show that it is good for the participants, then it will be attractive to other countries, and this alliance will expand. But so far it's just an idea, and we hope that it will be implemented”.

While Abkhazia is going to join the CES, its members have already managed to feel the advantages of such a form of integration.  According to Irina Ponomarenko, head of the Department of Economic Theory of BGUT, “Belarus has always been very close to Russia. In addition, more than 90% of our gross production is associated with Russia, and cultural or any other ties with Russia have never been broken in principle, because we are very close to Russia. Economically, we are connected to the Russian economy. Any positive stages of the development of Russian industry, of Russian scientific and technological advances, very quickly find applications in the field of Belarusian industry. Well, of course, if some critical moments take place in Russia, they have very complex repercussions for the Belarusian economy, because after all the engineering industry of our economy cannot exist without Russia, in terms of the economy.

From the humanitarian point of view, the Belarusian human population cannot really consider themselves separate from Russia, separate from the former Soviet Union, the countries of the CIS. Maybe that's why it is so easy to talk to each other for young people remembering Soviet roots but at the same time having their own way of development. Popularizing the ideas of integration is obvious to many people, at least to our delegation. Small and medium-sized business is usually the most flexible and fastest growing, including such business in Belarus. The number of registered companies, the amount of tax revenue from small and medium-sized businesses is growing very strongly annually. The relationship between small and medium-sized enterprises is direct, and above all the educational level of our business is today on the agenda in Belarus: this is educational integration, integration at the level of small and medium-sized enterprises. This is very important for the common good.