On November 9, 2017, at 15:00 the Valdai Discussion Club will hold an expert discussion and presentation of the report, titled "The Geography of the Eurasian Economic Union: From Challenges to Opportunities", written by Yaroslav Lissovolik, Programme director of the Valdai Discussion Club and Vyacheslav Sutyrin, editor-in-chief of “Eurasia.expert” journal and a senior associate fellow at the State Academic University for the Humanities (Russian Academy of Sciences).
Continentality and location in the geographical poles of inaccessibility historically limited the development of the EAEC countries. But continentality is not only a burden, but also potential benefits that can be exploited.
The economic and geographical position of the EAEC states is not characterized by profitability. Complex climatic conditions, vast spaces, lack of access to the seas lead to serious transport costs and reduce the competitiveness of goods in the world market.
At the same time, such a "burden of geography" objectively pushes the countrs towards long-term cooperation and integration. Only coordination of actions and large-scale investments in infrastructure can help overcome continentality, what all countries of the union are interested in.
In this regard, the experience of other countries, the use of the best western and eastern approaches to solve the problem, may be useful, but if taking into account the unique features of the region. What are these features? And how to use an unfavorable factor of geography in favor of the EAEC countries? These and other questions will be answered by the participants in the discussion.
Moderator:
• Timofei Bordachev, Programme Director of the Valdai Club; Director, Centre for Comprehensive European and International Studies, National Research University Higher School of Economics
Speakers:
• Vyacheslav Sutyrin - Editor-in-chief of “Eurasia.expert” journal and a senior associate fellow at the State Academic University for the Humanities (Russian Academy of Sciences)
• Leonid Vardomsky - Head of the Centre of the CIS and the Baltic States, Institute of Economics at RAS
• Aidarkhan Kusainov - Adviser to the Chairman of the National Bank of the Republic of Kazakhstan (via videolink)
• Yuri Ivanov – Aide to Member of the Board - Minister in charge of Industry and Agroindustrial Complex, Eurasian Economic Commission
Information for the media! To attend, please fill out the accreditation form or call +7 915 077 97 22.
Information for participants! If you have any questions, please call +7 926 638 86 37.
