YEREVAN (Armenpress)–The 6th economic forum of CIS countries in St. Petersburg–Russia began on June 18. The main subjects of which are the urgent issues of integration within the framework of the CIS–as well as the cooperation with international financial institutions and economic organizations.
Russian Federation Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov said the development of integration processes among CIS countries is the most important problem of Russia’s foreign policy.
He brought the joint announcement of the presidents of Russia–Kazakhstan–Turkmen’stan and Uzbekistan on expanding cooperation in the sector of natural gas as an obvious example. He thinks that this step opens new opportunities for the formation of a Eurasian Gas Union.
The main debates in the forum are supposed to cover the issues of the CIS countries economic development–their role in the world economic process–and prospects for the formation of new markets.
The forum plans to hold two plenary and five section sessions–as well as 17 specialized "round table" discussions.