EDB Centre for Integration Studies and Russian researchers to create a database on mutual investments in the CIS
Almaty, 2 April 2012. The Eurasian Development Bank’s (EDB) Centre for Integration Studies and the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Institute of World Economy and International Relations (IMEMO) start work to create a database of mutual investments in the CIS covering the period from 2009 onwards and intend to monitor integration processes in the region thereof.
«Mutual investments are an important indicator of sustainability of economic ties in the region that is at the moment missing from expert and analytical data on the CIS compiled on a regular basis,» Vladimir Yasinsky, EDB’s Head of Research, commented. «Such a state of affairs can be explained partly by flaws in the statistical data available, partly by the specific nature of investment activities in the region often characterised by application of complex offshore schemes, and partly by the need to develop further methods and tools for investment analysis.»
«Corporate integration monitoring is an important task of expert analysis which is in line with the EDB’s mission. It ensures that integration „from the bottom“ is taken account of and appropriately assessed when proposing recommendations for improving integration policy in Eurasia,» he said.
«This joint project will help to fill the obvious gap in the analysis of direct investments in the post-Soviet space,» Alexei Kuznetsov, Head of the Centre for European Studies at IMEMO and Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, said. «Regretfully, the overwhelming majority of globally-produced research into trans-border investments concerns, to smaller or larger extent, companies from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development’s (OECD) countries, whereas the efforts to expand the database to include firms from emerging markets are limited primarily to China, India and Latin America. At the same time, research into the CIS specifics is the only way to adequently assess the role of corporate integration in the development of the Eurasian Economic Union.»
In addition, the research is aimed at analysing general trends and systemic reserves associated with the dynamics of mutual investments in the CIS countries; identifying the main problems slowing down integration processes between them; and proposing recommendations to increase the number of integration initiatives in the CIS.
The research is based on official statistics regularly compiled by statistical agencies of Russia and other member states of the Bank; statistical data of the Customs Union Commission, EurAsEC and the CIS; as well as data from a number of international research and analytical centres, rating and news agencies, mass media and reports by Russian and international corporations, including those from CIS countries.
«Comprehensive monitoring of mutual investments in the CIS would be possible provided a rigorous methodology is devised for collecting and analysing data on investment transactions and respective legislative norms, including the Agreements on Mutual Investment Protection which are in effect in the region,» Evgeny Vinokurov, Director of the EDB Centre for Integration Studies, said. «We take into account internationally acclaimed research practices. A continuously updated database on mutual investments in the CIS will become an efficient tool in integration analysis. We will be able to evaluate how regional businesses adapt their investment strategies to new integration environments within the Common Economic Space.»
The system of the CIS mutual investment monitoring and the research into the integration trends in the corporate sector will be completed by June 2012.
Additional Information
The Eurasian Development Bank is an international financial institution founded by Russia and Kazakhstan in January 2006 with the mission to facilitate the development of market economies, sustainable economic growth and the expansion of trade and other economic ties in its member states. The EDB’s charter capital exceeds US $1.5 billion. The member states of the Bank are the Republic of Armenia, the Republic of Belarus, the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Russian Federation, and the Republic of Tajikistan. Read more at https://www.eabr.org.
The EDB Centre for Integration Studies was opened in St. Petersburg in June 2011. Its main objectives include the organisation of research and the preparation of reports and recommendations on regional economic integration. Read more about the Centre’s projects and publications at www.eabr.org/r/research/analytics/centre/.
The Institute of World Economy and International Relations (IMEMO)
was set up in 1956 and is a part of the Russian Academy of Sciences. IMEMO
researches into main trends of the development of the modern global politics
and economy and works on the development of a reliable analytical base for
political decision making. IMEMO is independent in choosing its research
programmes in accordance with its Charter. In particular, it focuses on the
analysis of today’s global problems, the forecasting of the global economic
dynamics and socio-political processes, the development of the international
relations theory, and the analysis of economic and socio-political processes in
the world’s key countries and regions. IMEMO’s researches are independent and
not linked to interests of any political parties. For four years in a row, it
had leading positions in the Think Tanks Rankings prepared by the University of
Pennsylvania. In 2011 IMEMO ranked 24th, out of 5,329 nominated research
centres from 182 countries, in the Top Thirty Think Tanks — Worldwide (US and