On 28 October 2022, a regular meeting of the Council of Heads of Government of the Commonwealth of Independent States was held in Astana under the chairmanship of the Prime Minister of Kazakhstan Alikhan Smailov.
The meeting was attended by the Prime Ministers and Deputy Prime Ministers of Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Belarus. Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan.
Deputy Prime Minister Khodjamyrat Geldimyradov attended the meeting on behalf of Turkmenistan.
In a narrow format, the heads of government exchanged views on topical issues of economic cooperation in the CIS, discussed the preparation of a draft agreement on free trade in services, establishment, activities and implementation of investments.
In an expanded format, the participants of the meeting heard a report on the holding of the II Games of the CIS countries in August next year in Belarus.
Signed documents
Following the meeting, more than 20 documents were signed. The key ones are:
- Agreement on Cooperation on prevention and response to public health emergencies of a sanitary and epidemiological nature. The document provides for the creation of a system for monitoring and responding to health emergencies, and also regulates the procedure for assistance in the elimination of such emergencies to CIS states, including through the involvement of mobile anti-epidemic formations of the CIS countries.
- The Plan of joint actions of the CIS member States on countering antimicrobial resistance. The measures prescribed in the Plan define an integrated and intersectoral approach for all industries where antimicrobials are used (healthcare, agriculture, including animal husbandry, crop production, aquaculture breeding, food production and turnover, environmental protection).
- The Concept of scientific, technical and technological cooperation and the Concept of digital transformation of chemical complex industries. According to the developers, the implementation of the Concept of scientific, technical and technological cooperation will ensure intensive structural and sectoral shifts in industry, contributing to an increase in employment and the development of high-tech and competitive production.
- Decisions on the Interstate Radio Navigation Program for 2023-2026 and on the Interstate Target Program “Recultivation of territories of States exposed to uranium mining industries”.
- Regulations on the Operator of the Interstate Program of Innovative Cooperation of the CIS member States for the period up to 2030 and Regulations on the procedure for accreditation and conditions for participation of legal entities and Individuals in this program.
- Action plan for the Year of the Russian Language as a Language of Interethnic Communication in the CIS in 2023. The document contains more than 150 points. These are activities for the training and advanced training of teachers in the field of the Russian language, and support of gifted children and youth in the field of Russian studies.
- Plan of priority activities in the field of humanitarian cooperation for 2023-2024. The document envisages more than 200 events in the field of education, science, culture, information and mass communications, book publishing, book distribution and printing, sports and healthy lifestyle, tourism, youth work.
The next meeting of the Council of Heads of Government of the Commonwealth of Independent States will be held on 7 June 2023 in Sochi.///nCa, 29 October 2022