Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- On 30 March 2023, a joint meeting of the Council of Permanent Plenipotentiary Representatives of the Commonwealth Member States to the statutory and other bodies of the Commonwealth and the Commission on Economic Affairs under the Economic Council of the CIS was held in the Belarusian capital.

The meeting, which was held via videoconference, was attended by CIS Secretary General Sergei Lebedev and his deputies.

The meeting participants discussed 8 issues. One of the main ones is the formation of a draft agenda for the next meeting of the Council of Heads of Government of the Commonwealth of Independent States.

The meeting is scheduled for 8 June in Sochi.

15 questions are submitted for consideration by the heads of government. Among them is the exchange of views on topical issues of economic cooperation in the Commonwealth, on the Agreement on Free Trade in Services, the establishment, activities and investments, on the Concept for the Development of Industrial Cooperation of the CIS Member States for the period up to 2030, on holding the Spartakiad of the Commonwealth countries among children with health limitations. Also, the meeting participants will make personnel decisions regarding the appointment of deputy heads of the Anti-Terrorist Center of the CIS member states.

Permanent representatives and members of the CEV analyzed the course of preparations for the next meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the CIS. It will be held on 14 April in Samarkand

Among the main issues on the agenda is the exchange of views on topical issues on the international agenda and interaction in the CIS format, on the creation of a basic organization for the training and retraining of highly qualified journalistic personnel. Traditionally, the spring meeting of the Ministerial Council will consider the implementation last year of the Plan of multi-level inter-MFA consultations within the Commonwealth and the Program of Action to intensify partnership between the foreign ministries of the CIS states.

The joint meeting also discussed the implementation of the Roadmap for the implementation of the initiatives expressed by the heads of delegations during the meetings of the Council of Heads of State, the Council of Heads of Government, the Council of Foreign Ministers and the Economic Council of the CIS, and considered the results of the activities of sectoral cooperation bodies in 2022.

It should be recalled that 66 bodies of sectoral cooperation have been created within the framework of the Commonwealth of Independent States (in the economic sphere - 36, in the security sphere - 16, in the humanitarian sphere - 10, in the information and legal sphere - 2 each). In 2022, the sectoral bodies considered at their meetings the issues of organizing the execution of decisions taken by the supreme bodies of the Commonwealth, adopted a number of documents aimed at further developing and strengthening integration processes in various areas of cooperation, at introducing advanced information technologies, innovative projects and digital transformation, at overcoming negative consequences of the coronavirus pandemic.

Continuing the topic of sectoral cooperation, the permanent representatives and members of the CEV discussed the activities of the Coordinating Transport Conference of the States Members of the Commonwealth of Independent States in 2010-2022. This is a sectoral body of intergovernmental cooperation in the field of regulating the activities of road, sea and inland water transport, as well as general transport issues in the territories of the CIS member states in cooperation with other bodies of sectoral cooperation in the field of transport. The meeting participants noted the positive work of the Coordinating Transport Conference in developing cooperation and deepening the integration ties of the Commonwealth states in the field of transport.

At the joint meeting, the results of the implementation of the Action Plan for the implementation of the Memorandum on deepening interaction between the Executive Committee of the Commonwealth of Independent States and the Eurasian Economic Commission were considered. It was noted that the analysis of the implementation of the Plan showed the importance of coordinated work by the relevant departments of the Commonwealth member states when considering similar draft documents of the CIS and the Eurasian Economic Union. The participants of the meeting paid special attention to the need to address problematic issues under development and existing international treaties within the framework of the CIS and the Eurasian Economic Union in the areas of technical regulation, accreditation, veterinary medicine and transport.

The meeting participants also heard information about the priorities of the Russian chairmanship of the EAEU in 2023. Evgeny Gerasimov, Deputy Director of the Department of Eurasian Integration of the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation, made a presentation on this topic.

In addition, the Council of Permanent Plenipotentiaries approved the candidacy of the CIS Secretary General Sergey Lebedev as the Head of the CIS Observer Mission at the referendum on the draft Constitutional Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan “On the Constitution of the Republic of Uzbekistan”, scheduled for 30 April 2023.