CIS sec gen expecting trade between member states to grow

MINSK. May 20 (Interfax) - Economic cooperation between members of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) has been growing, and this trend will persist, CIS Secretary General Sergei Lebedev told the press on Tuesday.

"The CIS Economic Council has just met in Tashkent, and results of economic cooperation have been announced. Noticeably, the average GDP in the Commonwealth member states has grown 4.4%," the Belarusian state-run news agency BelTA quoted Lebedev as saying.

"This is much higher than, say, in European countries, while some others, for example, the Baltic states post a decline," he said.

"We have growth across the board. Mutual trade increases, as well. Western markets have closed for us, and we have actively expanded trade between the CIS members. Another huge advantage of this mutual trade is that almost 90% of trade transactions between the CIS members are conducted in national currencies. This makes mutual trade much easier," Lebedev said.

Trade between Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) members has been the most intensive, he said. "Other CIS members that are not part to the EAEU, have also increased mutual trade. There has been growth in industrial production and investments. For instance, Belarus is actively investing in Kazakhstan and other CIS members and opening facilities to process agricultural goods. Russia is opening car assembly facilities in CIS members. Uzbekistan is actively developing the car industry. I can mention numerous cooperation areas, which prove an increase in economic cooperation between our states. It looks like this tendency will persist and develop," Lebedev said.