Results of the 5th Eurasian Economic Forum in Astana and new benchmarks for EAEU economic integration

The event took place during the chairmanship of the Republic of Kazakhstan in the EAEU bodies and became one of the key platforms for discussing the further development of Eurasian integration. According to the Eurasian Economic Commission, about 3,000 participants from 44 countries took part in the forum (Source: EEC). The program included around 30 events grouped into several thematic blocks, including the transformation of the EAEU common market, Eurasian connectivity, and the expansion of the “EAEU+” cooperation format.

The Eurasian Economic Union brings together Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Russia and represents a format of regional economic integration. The EAEU’s activities are based on creating a common economic space that ensures the free movement of goods, services, capital, and labor among member states. The union’s activities cover a wide range of areas, including trade, industry, agriculture, energy, transport, customs regulation, and the digital economy.

The outcome of the forum in Astana was the signing of 15 agreements, memoranda, cooperation programs, and contracts. These documents include the Joint Action Plan of the Eurasian Economic Commission and the Government of Cuba for 2026–2030, a Memorandum of Understanding between the EEC and the UN, as well as the extension of the memorandum between the EEC and the Islamic Organization for Food Security.

A separate block of agreements addressed the digital and technological agenda. Among them are the EEC cooperation program with the United Institute of Informatics Problems of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus in the field of artificial intelligence for 2026–2027, the EEC cooperation program with JSC “National Information Technologies” for 2026, as well as an agreement between the Center for the Development of Advanced Technologies and the Belarusian State Institute for Standardization and Certification.

A significant share of the documents (seven out of fifteen) focused on industry, logistics, and international industrial cooperation. This block includes an agreement on information exchange between VEB.RF and the Kyrgyz Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, a memorandum between associations of construction materials manufacturers, agreements between TransExpeditions and RTL, as well as documents involving representatives of national businesses and the Doctrine Science and Culture Development Foundation (Source: EEC).

The structure of the signed documents shows that in the near term the EAEU’s economic agenda will concentrate on several applied areas. Industrial cooperation and logistics are coming to the forefront, as they ensure connectivity among enterprises, the movement of goods, and the resilience of production chains within the union.

At the same time, attention to digital technologies and standardization is increasing. The foreign economic partnerships outlined at the forum expand the space for trade and institutional dialogue beyond the five EAEU countries. Ultimately, the meeting in Astana reflects the EAEU’s intention to strengthen the economic foundation of integration, develop production ties, expand transport and digital infrastructure, and create more sustainable mechanisms of interaction within the common market.

Author: Doctor of Economics, Professor of the Department of World Economy and World Finance at the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation Rinas Vasimovich Kashbraziev.