About the Forum
The 2nd Eurasian Economic Forum will take place on 24–25 May 2023 in Moscow (the Russian Federation).
The Eurasian Economic Forum is an annual business event of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) in the economic sphere, held alternately in the member state of the Union that chairs the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council, the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council and the Council of the Eurasian Economic Commission.
The goal of the Forum is to improve cooperation on the Eurasian continent. The key areas of discussion on the business programme will be issues concerning integration processes in the Eurasian Economic Union that are of most relevance to business, including those of particular interest to the Russian Federation.
The 2023 edition of the Eurasian Economic Forum will take place under the theme of ‘Eurasian Integration in a Multipolar World’.
Forum history
The emergence of the Eurasian Economic Forum has become another milestone on the path to strengthening cooperation between the EAEU countries, a tool for increasing mutual understanding between them.
The idea of Eurasian integration was expressed in 1994 by the first President of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev, during his famous speech at Moscow State University. In 2001, it was implemented in the form of the Eurasian Economic Community, and since 01 January 2015, in the form of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), which included Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Russia.
To coordinate own work, the participants created the Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC). The creation marked the transition of Eurasian integration to a qualitatively new institutional level of development. For the first time in the history of the Eurasian integration process, a permanent supranational regulatory body was created with real powers in a number of strategic areas of the economy.
In 2016, the "Eurasian Week" was held for the first time - an exhibition and conference, which was organized in Moscow, on the territory of the Technopark of the Skolkovo Innovation Center. Then the participating countries agreed that the "Eurasian Week" will be held each time by the member of the EAEU who chairs the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council at the time of its holding.
Therefore, in 2017, the Eurasian Week was held in the capital of Kazakhstan at the EXPO-2017 site, in 2018 in Yerevan, and finally, in September 2019, it was hosted by Bishkek. The fourth Eurasian Week in the capital of Kyrgyzstan was traditionally attended by representatives of not only the five EAEU states, but also representatives of other countries of the world - guests from 31 countries in total. In its work took part about 2000 people. At more than 20 venues of the Eurasian Week, 200 speakers spoke, 71 companies presented expositions in the exhibition area. More than 350 business meetings were held on the Forum.
It is worth noting that two-thirds of the participants were industrialists and entrepreneurs, which is especially important given the main objective of this platform: to become a place of dialogue between business and government agencies of the countries of the Eurasian Economic Union so that they can adjust their policies to ensure the most favorable business climate.
It is also interesting that for the first time in Bishkek, within the framework of the “Eurasian Week”, was held a round table for youth – “The School of the Young Leader of the EAEU”, where youth activists and novice diplomats from the participating countries united. The round table was aimed at expanding the processes of interaction between the youth of the Union countries, creating new opportunities for the implementation of youth initiatives, social and professional self-realization of the younger generation.
At the end of 2019, it was decided to raise the status of this event. The members of the SEEC decided to transform the "Eurasian Week" into the format of the Eurasian Economic Forum. It was planned to be held annually in the future. Unfortunately, due to the unfavorable epidemiological situation in 2020 and 2021, the forum had to be abandoned.
And finally, in May 2022, representatives of the EAEU member states will meet again in Bishkek, since the Kyrgyz Republic is now chairing the bodies of the Union again. They will come to the first Eurasian Economic Forum, as they say, to synchronize their watches and adjust their policies to speed up the process of economic integration. It is no coincidence that the main topic of the Eurasian Economic Forum in the capital of Kyrgyzstan is declared as “Eurasian economic integration in an era of global change. New opportunities for investment activity”. In an era of change and global upheaval, Eurasian integration creates a successful foundation for economic growth and development. And the Eurasian Economic Forum should once again demonstrate this.
