Igor Finogenov: Upgrading industrial production is one of the key goals of economic integration

St. Petersburg, 23 May 2014. The bringing together of markets, resources and assets can help restore manufacturing industries, which are a locomotive of the CIS economies. Igor Finogenov, Chairman of the Management Board at Eurasian Development Bank (EDB), stated this today at the business roundtable The CIS: Modern Reality and the Challenges of Sustained Development hosted by the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.

Igor Finogenov believes that a common industrial and research policy is needed to this end, which should factor in the needs of all participants in integration projects. “Despite the obviously leading role of Russia, which is the largest economy in the region, other proactive players are also needed,” he continued. “Here it is very important to maintain Kazakhstan’s proactive position as a locomotive of integration and ensure other countries’ (including the SCO members) meaningful participation in integration projects.”

The head of EDB believes that the idea of developing trans-border companies and holdings, which own intertwined assets in the Single Economic Space countries, is worth considering. They can form the basis for long-term economic integration. EDB estimates that there are about ten to twelve such sectors beyond the oil and gas sector in the post-Soviet space. These include ferrous and non-ferrous metallurgy, coke chemistry, fertiliser production, power and rail engineering, heavy engineering, aircraft and helicopter engineering, the space industry, and agriculture, especially the grain sector.

Igor Finogenov also believes that the success of economic integration depends on the advancement of actual “bottom up” integration, including mutual trade, trans-border investment, and civilised labour migration.

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.