DUSHANBE, April 1, 2014, Asia-Plus – The Eurasian Development Bank (EDB) says that disintegration trends observed for the last two decades in the CIS region are reversed, but there has been no qualitative breakthrough yet.
The research project of the EDB Center for Integration Studies,
The System of Indicators of Eurasian Integration
(SIEI), in particular, notes that integration in the post-Soviet space progresses at an uneven pace in different domains, but the level of integration in the CIS has generally remained virtually unchanged for the last four years. That means that the permanent disintegration trend observed over two decades might have been reversed. At the same time, there has been no qualitative breakthrough yet.
The findings of the research show that, judging by the overall level of integration with all the post-Soviet countries, Kyrgyzstan, Armenia, and Tajikistan have been the three leaders since 2008. Tajikistan, however, although the country was in the lead over the period of 2002-2008, demonstrated a lower level of integration in 2009-2012. At the same time, Georgia and Azerbaijan have improved their level of integration with the CIS region over the last four years.
Based on indicators relative to the countries’ GDP and population size, the leaders in certain aspects of integration with the CIS region include Belarus (trade), Kyrgyzstan (power exchange), Tajikistan (labor migration and agriculture), and Turkmenistan (education), the research project said.
SIEI has a long-term status. It presents the results of regular monitoring and assessment of the pattern and key vectors of Eurasian integration and cooperation in the CIS region. SIEI is acknowledged as one of top-3 systems of regional integration analysis globally. The project is based on official statistics (except mutual investment index, which is based on the Center’s Monitoring of Mutual Investments project). The analysis covers a wide range of areas of the countries’ integration — from macroeconomic policies to student mobility.
The Eurasian Development Bank (EDB) is an international financial organization founded by Russia and Kazakhstan in 2006. The members of the Bank are Russia, Kazakhstan, Armenia, Tajikistan and Belarus (2010). Other states or international organizations can become members by joining the Agreement Establishing the EDB. The Bank has authorized capital in exceeds US$1.5 billion, which was formed of contributions by its member states: Russia (US$1billion), Kazakhstan (US$500 million), Armenia (US$100,000), Tajikistan (US$500,000) and Belarus (US$15 million). The authorized capital may be increased by resolution of the Bank’s Council. The Bank has the status of an international organization, and is subject to international law.
