March 30, 2024 (EIRNS)—The annual meeting of the International Economic Forum of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), hosted by Russia this year, met March 28-29 in Moscow, bringing together leaders from Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and BRICS, on the official theme, “From Dialogue to Joint Projects in the CIS, EAEU, SCO.“ Some 2,000 delegates attended. CIS Secretary General Sergei Lebedev said, “The Commonwealth of Independent States, the SCO and BRICS countries are a perfect place for launching new industries and combining transport and logistics chains, strengthening economic ties.”
More integration, despite differences, was the common thread in many presentations. Specifically, there was a meeting to confer on a common Eurasian trade area for oil and gas.
China figured prominently in the remarks by Eurasian Economic Commission Board Chairman Bakytzhan Sagintayev, former Prime Minister of Kazakhstan. “Broader cooperation with the SCO is a key avenue for us. The EAEU and the SCO have set up an institutional basis for interaction, signed a memorandum, and are finalizing a plan of events for 2024-2025 towards implementing the memorandum, and its regulating bodies have arranged a systemic dialogue,” the Belarus BelTA state news agency quoted Sagintayev as saying, in its coverage.