Kassym-Jomart Tokayev: Approaches to ensuring food security should be developed both at national levels and within regional associations

Strengthening the potential of the Eurasian Economic Union remains a priority for the Republic of Kazakhstan, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, said in his speech at the plenary session of the St Petersburg International Economic Forum.

Kassym-Jomart Tokayev recalled that “the total volume of the economies of all the states of the Union now exceeds two trillion dollars: it is an enormous market with free movement of goods, capital, services and labour, or at least it should be.”

According to the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, despite the pandemic and geopolitical turmoil, cooperation within the Union continues to consistently strengthen. “Last year, the volume of mutual trade reached a maximum over the entire period of operation of the EAEU and amounted to approximately $73 billion, which is a third more than the previous year,” said the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

Russia has been and remains a key trade and economic partner for Kazakhstan within this association. Last year, the mutual trade turnover between the two countries increased by almost a third, exceeding $24 billion. These are record figures for us. This year, the positive trend remains. In the first quarter of this year, trade grew by more than 12 percent.

According to Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, now it is necessary and would be useful to develop “a new trade strategy within the framework of the Eurasian Economic Union taking into account the new reality.” “Overall, the ultimate success of Eurasian integration largely, if not significantly, depends precisely on the effectiveness of our common trade strategy. Kazakhstan and Russia can bring industrial cooperation to a qualitatively new level,” Kassym-Jomart Tokayev stressed.

Focusing on the need to ensure food security amid the global threat of famine, the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan stressed, “The supply of the population with high-quality and safe food remains a paramount task and a factor in maintaining internal stability,” and “approaches to ensuring food security should be developed both at national levels and within the framework of regional associations, including, of course, the Eurasian Economic Union, taking into account the needs of all member states. Without concerted work, it is difficult to expect to achieve the goals set in this extremely important area.”

At a bilateral meeting with Vladimir Putin, President of the Russian Federation, on the margins of the St Petersburg International Economic Forum, the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan said, “As for the bilateral cooperation, there is no reason to be concerned; everything is going well. We are specifically working on projects in industry and agriculture. Investment cooperation is developing steadily. That is, there is every reason to state that there is very great success in the development of bilateral cooperation, and I think it will continue to progress at a steady pace.”