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ALMATY, 2 February (BelTA) – Belarus proposes the development of a program for the digital transformation of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), Belarus’ Prime Minister Andrei Kobyakov said at a plenary session of the international forum entitled as Digital Agenda in the Era of Globalization held in Almaty on 2 February, BelTA informs.

According to Andrei Kobyakov, only coordinated actions within the framework of the implementation of the common digital agenda will help the EAEU to gain a foothold in leadership positions both on the scale of the Eurasian continent and in the world.

In this regard, the prime minister suggested considering two Belarusian initiatives. The first is the integration of the digital infrastructure of the EAEU countries, which involves not only the introduction of unified standards, but also the overall management of physical infrastructure. It has been proposed to develop full-fledged digital transport corridors on the east-west route.

The second initiative is to move from a coherent digital policy to a unified strategy of the EAEU member states. “We can see that our countries have not only different speeds, but sometimes different directions of transformation. This applies to the development of the digital economy and legislation as well. Instead of uniting efforts, we are moving in parallel directions,” the prime minister said.

With this in mind, Belarus suggests developing a unified program for the EAEU digital transformation, and not at the level of common principles and approaches, but with specific measures and their implementation deadlines. “Only in this case, we will be able to talk about genuine digital integration,” Andrei Kobyakov said.

Earlier, the EAEU heads of state approved the statement on the EAEU digital agenda, adopted the main directions for its implementation and the procedure for developing initiatives. “The practical implementation, however, proceeds with dificulties,” the Belarusian head of government said.

Meanwhile, the EAEU countries do much at the national level. Belarus considers informatization among its priorities. The country is currently ranked 32^nd in ICT development in the world and intends to enter the top 30 in the future.

The purpose of the forum Digital Agenda in the Era of Globalization is to promote the EAEU region in global digitalization, strengthen partnership in this area among the participating countries. The main topic of the discussions is the integration of information systems of the EAEU states. The plenary session is attended by the prime ministers of the CIS countries, the Chairman of the EEC Board and international experts. The program of the forum also includes thematic sessions "Innovations and Technological Entrepreneurship", "EAEU Digital Agenda: Initiatives and Projects", "Industrial Digitalization (Industry 4.0)", "Digital Transformation of Agriculture in the EAEU".

Attending the forum are the prime ministers of Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Uzbekistan, the official delegations of Azerbaijan and Tajikistan, and also representatives of big international IT companies.