18 June 2004 20:40
Putin calls for Eurasian coordination in WTO admission talks (Part 2)
ASTANA. June 18 (Interfax) - President Vladimir Putin has said it is important that member-nations of the Eurasian
Economic Community coordinate their moves in the WTO admission talks.
"I find our consultations on WTO accession exceptionally useful. I think all sides are interested in effective
coordination on this issue," he told an expanded session of the community's Inter-State Council in Astana on
Friday.
"Such a concerted approach significantly strengthens our positions in the dialogue with the WTO," Putin
said.
He mentioned the agreements on cooperation on the securities market and on the status of legal groundwork for the
community that have been prepared for signing. "The latter document is of especially great importance. Necessary
conditions that were absent before are being created for developing supranational legislation for direct action in the
framework of the community," he said.
"Here in Astana we are taking a new important step to reach the objectives we have put forward," he
said.
Putin also gave his assessment of the present state of the community. "In the first place, the community's
international reputation has clearly improved," he said.
The community was given observer status at the UN General Assembly. Other international organizations are also
showing interest in establishing contacts with it, Putin said. "The very existence of the community has a positive
effect in the former Soviet Union," he said.
The Russian leader called attention to the economic growth achieved by the member-states. "The national
economies are showing steady growth. Investments and foreign trade turnover are on the rise in all countries of the
Eurasian Economic Community. Social indicators are changing for the better," he said.
He also named the effective use of resources and potential for integration as a key factor. "Here it is
important not to lag behind, to take modern global integration trends into account and consistently move ahead," he
said. [RU EUROPE ASIA EEU EMRG POL KZ] ml aw
[Interfax] |
RUSSIA IN FACTS
