Belarus president proposes to launch EAEU 2.0

Minsk [Belarus], June 27: Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko proposed to launch the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) 2.0, which would present its own signature Eurasian product, in demand and common to all participating countries.
Speaking to a plenary session of the Eurasian Economic Forum in Minsk on Thursday, Lukashenko said that within the framework of Eurasian integration, participating countries need to develop a common product in order to gain and maintain positions in global markets.
The strategy of the EAEU is calculated until 2025, and then the union is expected to begin working in a new capacity.
"Today we have every reason to present individual elements of EAEU 2.0. In a situation of global turbulence, it is important not to trail behind events, but to influence the global agenda in a positive way, to have well-thought-out models for responding to external challenges," the Belarusian leader said.
Having marked its 10th anniversary, the EAEU has demonstrated the ability to find mutually acceptable solutions and effective compromises, Lukashenko said. It is not just functioning, but is actually succeeding in its key parameters, he added.
In ten years, the mutual trade turnover of the participating countries has more than doubled, and the volume of foreign trade has increased by 37 percent. The EAEU GDP has grown by almost 18 percent, industrial production by 30 percent, agricultural output by 25 percent, cargo turnover by 10 percent, and investment by more than 40 percent.
Lukashenko expressed the belief that free employment in the countries of the EAEU has become an important achievement for citizens.
Belarus is chairing the EAEU bodies in 2025.
Source: Xinhua News Agency