EDB: The EEU's improved competitiveness will help to overcome scepticism about it

“The Eurasian integration project is perceived with increasing scepticism by the population of the EEU and CIS countries. The share of people who are sympathetic to the European Union and other foreign countries, especially in areas such as research and educational cooperation, is growing,” Vladimir Pereboyev, head of a department at Eurasian Development Bank’s (EDB) Centre for Integration Studies, said at the 17th April International Academic Conference on Economic and Social Development. The expert based his conclusions on the most recent research conducted by the EDB Centre for Integration Study within its ongoing EDB Integration Barometer project.

Vladimir Pereboyev spoke on public perceptions of Eurasian economic integration in the CIS and said that, according to the Centre for Integration Studies, Eurasian economic integration was supported by the majority of the population in Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, and Russia, while people in Armenia and Belarus rated their countries’ participation in the EEU with lower figures, and other CIS countries, except Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, showed a decline in the public interest to the EEU. The Centre for Integration Studies believes that, to overcome scepticism about the EEU, it should expand its work on improving economic competitiveness and the quality of life, labour conditions and educational services in the member states, fulfilling the countries’ scientific and technical potential, and strengthening the EEU’s information positions on the global arena.

The forum was held on 21 April in Moscow.

The April International Academic Conference on Economic and Social Development is Russia’s largest academic forum on social and economic sciences, arranged by the Higher School of Economics National Research University.

Additional Information about the Bank:

Eurasian Development Bank (EDB) 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 totals US $7 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.

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