MOSCOW, January 1. /TASS/. In 2022, Kazakhstan is picking up the baton of the CIS chairmanship from Belarus, which led the organization during its 30th anniversary. The CIS has established itself as a full-fledged political organization, and Minsk was able to keep it running as a platform of opportunities despite the pandemic and the political ups and downs separate member countries faced. Nur-Sultan is set to continue the steady development of the CIS as a regional group. 

Last year, the regional organization’s member-states managed to enhance their economic performance. In January-August 2021, the value (in current prices) of mutual trade of the Commonwealth countries increased by 28.3% from a year earlier. Exports increased by 28.6%, while imports rose by 28%. All the Commonwealth countries ended the first nine months of the year with an increase in their gross domestic product values without a single exception. The total GDP of the CIS expanded by 4.4% in 2021, according to the CIS Executive Committee.

During a CIS summit on October 15, an agreement was signed to counter the legalization of criminal profit, the financing of terrorism and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. Russian President Vladimir Putin said that a good foundation had been established for unifying the Commonwealth’s efforts in fighting terrorism and drug trafficking.

Areas of work for 2022 

Maulen Ashimbayev, who serves as speaker of the Senate (upper house) of Kazakhstan’s parliament, said that one of the priorities of the country’s chairmanship would be promoting parliamentary diplomacy. That’s according to the concept of chairmanship that, he said, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev of Kazakhstan has already approved and that would be presented in January.

Plans are in store to put together an agreement on free trade in services in the CIS by May 2022 to be signed by the heads of member-state governments. According to Chairman of the Executive Committee and CIS Executive Secretary Sergey Lebedev, in addition to member states, the agreement will be open to other countries to join on certain conditions.

Putin said that CIS countries would jointly develop a biological risk monitoring system and exchange information on the fight against epidemics. According to his Kazakh counterpart, the country is committed to intensive work on regional consolidation. For the purpose of bringing the peoples of the member countries closer together, Kazakhstan declared the following year the Year of Folk Art and Cultural Heritage of the CIS. The plan for its implementation includes about 100 events aimed at preserving the historical ties and strengthening interaction in the fields of culture, tourism and sports, Tokayev said.