EDB Centre for Integration Studies presents a Eurasian integration measurement system in Brussels

Almaty, 31 October 2012. How can integration be measured objectively? What are the best indicators? Where should relevant statistics be taken from? How can measurements of integration processes be used in practice? World’s leading experts in regional integration discussed these issues last week in Brussels. In addition to the recipient institution, the United Nations University Institute on Comparative Regional Integration Studies (UNU-CRIS), the participants in the forum included experts from the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, Eurasian Development Bank, the International Finance Corporation, the European Commission, MERCOSUR, the UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), and ASEAN.

Measuring integration is one of the issues that are being discussed extensively. Almost every region, from South America to Eastern Asia, works to create or develop a system of indicators.

The EDB Centre for Integration Studies, a co-organiser of the forum, presented its research The System of Indicators of Eurasian Integration (SIEI) it published in 2010. The SIEI is a set of eleven indicators developed with the use of world’s best practices and covering various aspects of integration, including trade, convergence of macroeconomic indicators, labour migration, and academic mobility. The international expert workshop named EDB’s SIEI as one of the most successful and efficient systems.

The first issue of the SIEI has shown that the disintegration vector in the CIS region was not overcome in the 2000s. However, starting from 2004—2005 the «integration core» countries (Belarus, Kazakhstan, Russia) have been demonstrating real convergence of their economies. The Centre’s experts believe for this reason that the Customs Union and the Single Economic Space are examples of «bottom up» integration — actual positive changes in economic ties observable since the mid—2000s.

The Centre for Integration Studies announced the launch of the 2013 System of Indicators of Eurasian Integration. This issue will cover the years of 2009—2012, the most interesting period in terms of integration dynamics when it developed against the backdrop of global economic crises. It will also analyse the first effects the Customs Union has on integration in the region.

Additional Information

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 mutual trade and other economic ties in its member states. 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.