This initiative was
announced by attendees of the second meeting of the Presidium of the Scientific
and Technical Council under the Chairman of the Eurasian Economic Commission’s
Board held on February 17 at the EEC’s headquarters.
The
meeting attendees have discussed some issues of scientific support for the Strategic Directions
for Developing the Eurasian Economic Integration until 2025, innovative projects that could ensure modernizing
the Union’s economy as well as the possibility of involving young people and
universities in this work.
As Mikhail Myasnikovich,
Chairman of the EEC Board, has stressed the Commission attaches great value to
interaction with the scientific community.
“We in the Board, we are calculating
that our advice will be able to generate innovative ideas and cooperation
projects. We have the task to promote the maximum self-sufficiency of the Union
by combining all States’ efforts. It is required to use mechanisms for
motivating the business community to create joint companies and boost export
and rational import reduction," Mikhail Myasnikovich said.
The Chairman of the EEC
Board proposed to use science and its internationality to create a kind of
"cementing centers" of the Eurasian integration and popularize the
Eurasian cooperation idea through science, making the EAEU an attractive
integration association.
"We consider it expedient to
elaborate a draft international treaty on scientific and technical cooperation
within the EAEU which can become a real economic tool. We could talk about
first approaches at the meeting of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council to be
held in May this year," Mikhail Myasnikovich noted.
Sergei Glazyev, EEC Minister in
charge of Integration and Macroeconomics and Deputy Chairman of the Scientific
and Technical Council, has informed about directions of the Strategy-2025 in
implementing which the Commission particularly needs the scientific community’s
assistance. In particular, this includes encouraging joint research activities,
developing flexible mechanisms for targeted assistance to economic development
and building efficient management system for joint cooperative projects.
"The Strategy-2025 also includes
the expansion of economic cooperation in the field of education, health care,
tourism and sports. We count on your active support in this direction,"
Sergei Glazyev noted.
Artak Kamalyan, EEC Minister in
charge of Industry and Agriculture and Member of the STC Presidium, proposed to
create an educational platform in the field of academic mobility.
"This will provide the Union
States’ students with an opportunity to study at leading universities with the
strongest specialization and will also contribute to popularizing the Union
itself. I guess it is important to consider the possibility of creating
relevant Eurasian Fund as one of the tools for developing the academic mobility,"
Artak Kamalyan stressed.
Gegham Vardanyan, EEC Minister in charge
of Internal Markets, Information Support, Information and Communication
Technologies and Member of the STC Presidium, has noted the importance of
addressing the data turnover within the EAEU.
"I guess, an agreement on data
turnover as well as the use of regulatory "sandboxes" can be one of
the incentives for the integration association. Removing the excessive
regulatory burden from the integration processes in the field of ICT is one of
the keys to accelerating digitalization," Gegham Vardanyan said.
The meeting attendees
have expressed their proposals on cooperation in the field of science in the
EAEU countries. In particular, the initiative to develop an international
treaty on scientific and technical cooperation in the EAEU was unanimously
endorsed.
"Our countries have already made
attempts to establish scientific and technical cooperation, but this came to
nothing as the mechanism for integrating scientific organizations had not been
created. We hope that in new conditions and in the new close format we’ll
succeed in implementing this," noted Murat Dzhumatayev,
President of the National Academy of Sciences of Kyrgyzstan.
In turn, Aleksandr Kilchevsky, Deputy Chairman of the Presidium
of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, expressed readiness to build up
a concept of international treaty on scientific and technical cooperation in
the EAEU.
Aleksandr Sergeev, President of the
Russian Academy of Sciences, dwelled on the issue of building a system of
efficient management and financing of joint cooperative projects in the EAEU in
the field of science and technology. Murat Zhurinov, President of the National
Academy of Sciences of Kazakhstan, shared his views on forming the Union’s
single scientific space.
For reference
The
Scientific and
Technical Council was
established by Order of the Chairman of the Eurasian Economic Commission’s
Board on March 13, 2020. It functions as the Commission’s advisory authority on
scientific and technological development of the EAEU. It consists of the
Council’s Presidium and an expert group. The Presidium comprises Members
(Ministers) of the Commission’s Board and two representatives of each State:
Heads of National Academies of Sciences and deputy ministers in the field of
education and science. The expert group comprises a wide range of experts from
the Member States and provides the required level of technical expertise for
this authority.