By Vestnik Kavkaza
Today, three months before the agreement on the Eurasian Economic Union will come into operation, the draft was approved by the lower house of the Kazakh parliament. Meanwhile, in Moscow the agreement was approved by the Federation Council (the State Duma ratified it on September 2nd). Soon the document will be considered by the parliament of Belarus.
One of the main targets of the agreement on the EAEU is an increase in the competitiveness of the national economies in the context of the global economy. Apparently, to boost competitiveness it is necessary to implement new technologies and innovative development systems. However, to implement innovations in the real sectors of economy favorable conditions are needed, i.e. a demand for them, which is formed either by the state or by the market.
Russian vice-premier Arkady Dvorkovich is sure that the state and the market shouldn’t be opposed in the sphere. “We shouldn’t try to find a unique golden key. In all modern countries either the government plays an active role in establishing an innovative environment and promotion of innovations, or the market is the measure that indicates whether the results were achieved or not,” Dvorkovich thinks.
Speaking about the role of the state in encouraging innovative development, the vice-premier noted that “there are large federal projects, a large governmental order, determination of key and priority directions of technological development. We know what our colleagues in China, the U.S., and European countries are dealing with. There are joint projects. They know what we are doing. I think the demand by state companies and the government will remain one of key drivers of innovations for a long time. This especially concerns such spheres as aircraft engineering, space technologies, nuclear power technologies, partially energy power economy, medical technologies where the government sector plays a significant role in the majority of countries, education and science. These are sectors which won’t survive without government support.”
On the other hand, Dvorkovich believes that “competition for minds, wallets and souls takes place in the market, first of all. If a person pays, it means a bought product or service is profitable. It is inevitable; and half of success is market mechanisms and market demand.”
