“Representatives of the business community will benefit from joining, but there is a risk that there will be difficulties for those segments of the population who will suffer from this. We will take protective measures in any case. A program is planned to minimize risks when entering the Customs Union, and we are already negotiating this issue with Russia and Kazakhstan. We also need to consider the issue of labor migrants. The program for them will be reviewed by the Eurasian Economic Space. So this will be the next step. We will also work on this issue,” the minister explained.
Facts and statistics are stubborn things. It is precisely based on them that we intend to convince parliament of the necessity of joining the Customs Union.
According to him, the government must do everything to raise the economic potential of the country.
“We need to consider who we are economically connected with. We have 41% of trade relations with Kazakhstan and Russia, and slightly less with Belarus. We need new large markets for our products. We export tobacco, fruits, and vegetables to Russia, and electricity, dairy products, clothing, and glass to Kazakhstan. From Russia, we import oil, metals, and paper, and from Kazakhstan, flour, coal, and mineral raw materials. I think the deputies will understand in which sectors our citizens work. Trade relations with the countries of the Customs Union prompted us to join this union,” said the minister.
The minister also added that entrepreneurs in the "Dordoy" market complain that “the market is stagnant and there is no trade.”
“This is all because Kazakhstan has tightened the passage of goods from the Kyrgyz Republic. The entire border is closed with barbed wire. If we do not join the Customs Union, then there will be no trade at all. Since everything that entrepreneurs bring in is re-exported to the markets of Russia and Kazakhstan. Joining the Customs Union opens up large markets in Kazakhstan and Russia for us. But at the same time, we do not lose our sovereignty,” the official explained.