POLITICS
Yalta to host meeting of CIS Economic Council
Baku, April 15 (AZERTAC). A meeting of the Economic Council of the Commonwealth of Independent States will take place in Yalta, Ukraine on April 15.
The agenda of the session includes 15 issues covering every area of the economic cooperation in the CIS.
The draft agreement on free trade zone will top the agenda of the 49th session of the CIS Economic Council. The document has been designed by the Ministry of Economic Development of Russia and submitted to the CIS Executive Committee in the late 2008.
In February this year the special task team took a decision to consider as coordinated the text of the articles of the draft agreement and its supplements. The draft document was approved at the session of the Commission for Economic Issues of the CIS Economic Council in March 2011.
The document is aimed at the development of the united legal framework for large-scale liberalization of trade in the CIS. The new agreement limits withdrawals from the free trade regime that are subject to import duties. Export duties are to be frozen. The sides plan to start negotiating their gradual abolishment as soon as the document takes effect.
The document on free trade zone will be submitted to consideration by the CIS Council of Heads of Government following its approval by the CIS Economic Council.
The participants of the Yalta session are also expected to consider the CIS preliminary draft interstate program for innovation cooperation, discuss the preparations for the interstate exhibition to mark the 20th anniversary of the CIS, talk over the issues of cooperation in transportation, scientific and technical information exchange, food security and others.
Moreover, the members of the CIS Economic Council will take part in an international investment forum, Yalta Business Meetings, organized by the CIS Financial and Banking Council under the auspices of the CIS Executive Committee, the Government of Ukraine and the Vneshtorgbank Group.
The forum will take place in Yalta.
The delegation of Azerbaijani government will attend the events.