CIS countries need closer economic integration - Kostin
- Written by Interfax
BAKU, Dec 2 (Interfax). CIS economies cannot see stable development without economic integration, VTB (RTS: VTR) President and Chairman Andrei Kostin said.
"The relevant agreement signed in November this year between the presidents of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan is the basis for such integration," Kostin said Thursday in Baku at the IV Baku conference: CIS Financial Markets: Stable Development amid Global Volatility.
There is a crisis in the integration process in Europe at the moment that is mostly due to mistakes made in budget supervision, he said. "The idea itself of integration in Europe is correct, including the introduction of a unified currency and unified investment centers. The mistakes made in Europe need to be taken into account in the economic integration inside the CIS," Kostin said.
CIS countries need closer cooperation to develop financial markets, he said. The CIS also needs to establish a unified goods and services market and an internal borrowing system. The insurance market needs to be developed, pension funds established and other instruments that will create long-term resources for financing the economy, he said.
"Today the world is contemplating how the banking system needs to be regulated globally and nationally. In addition, CIS countries need to develop regulations for monitoring financial markets inter-nationally," Kostin added.
CIS countries need to establish banks that work according to Islamic banking principles, Anatoly Kazakov, the chairman of the CIS Finance and Banking Coordination Council, said at the same conference.
"In this matter, CIS countries are lagging behind western countries. Islamic banking is inexpensive and long money. During the conference we will discuss the establishment of such banks in CIS countries," he said.
Countries in the Caspian region also need to increase their economic cooperation, he said.
"Integration between the Caspian countries can start with the economy. We are concerned by the low turnover between Caspian countries, billions of dollars are bypassed because of borders and barriers," Kazakov said.
Various structures, such as a Caspian economic cooperation organization and a Caspian development bank, need to be established for more intense economic integration between countries in the region, he said.
