Tigran Sargsyan: Ensuring digital sovereignty for the new type of states, into which the EAEU+ countries are gradually transforming, is only possible through integration
Kazan, 19 July 2022. The EAEU+ countries can only secure state sovereignty in today’s digital era through two instruments – integration and digital transformation. Tigran Sargsyan, Vice Chairman of the EDB Management Board, said this at the Presidential Academy’s International Summer Campus.
“Countries will protect their digital sovereignty by using digital ecosystems and digital platforms,” said Tigran Sargsyan. “This will be a brand-new, crucial function of the state.” Tigran Sargsyan spoke at the International Summer Campus’s Special Section on Eurasian Integration hosted by the Basic Department for Eurasian Economic Integration of the Institute of Law and National Security at the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration.
The most effective states will be those that incorporate platform solutions into governance and decision-making and establish a public digital ecosystem. This is how a new state is forming before our eyes.
In Tigran Sargsyan’s view, ensuring digital sovereignty for the new type of states, into which the EAEU+ countries are gradually transforming, is only possible through integration. In this sense, the Eurasian Economic Union is a unique association that takes into account the specificities of its member states and provides them with an equal footing in decision-making, including on the strategic issues of building their economic future.
“Therefore, I argue that digital sovereignty can only be realised within the Eurasian integration project and that integration principles in the EAEU can only be implemented through digital transformation. I see this as an answer to some of the global challenges facing our countries,” he said.
Tigran Sargsyan noted that the approval by the Heads of State of the EAEU Digital Agenda and the establishment of the EAEU Fund for Digital Initiatives have created the regulatory and institutional foundations for the joint digital transformation of the EAEU+ countries.
Additional Information:
The Eurasian Development Bank (EDB) is an international financial institution investing in Eurasia. For 15 years, the Bank has worked to strengthen and broaden economic ties and foster comprehensive development in its member countries – Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Russia and Tajikistan. The EDB's charter capital totals US $7 billion. Its portfolio consists principally of projects with an integration effect in transport infrastructure, digital systems, green energy, agriculture, manufacturing, and mechanical engineering. The Bank adheres to the UN Sustainable Development Goals and ESG principles in its operations.
The Eurasian Development Bank’s Fund for Digital Initiatives was established by the Bank’s Council on 30 June 2020. The Fund’s objective is to assist EDB member states in creating digital transformation tools and practices by integrating their information resources and participating in the development and financing of projects, including those implemented under the Eurasian Economic Union’s Digital Agenda 2025.
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