We will have to take difficult and important decisions in the nearest time: Massimov

November 23 Kazakhstan Prime-Minister Karim Massimov attended the 3rd economic forum of large business called Expert-100-Kazakhstan, Tengrinews.kz reports. Head of Kazakhstan government told about steps that will be taken to overcome the expected global crisis. Prime-Minister talked mostly in plural, meaning Common Economic Space comprising Kazakhstan, Russia and Belarus. “Our economies have to put forth competent and timely economic policies in order to adequately confront this wave (of the financial crisis). We may be able to render good support to each other, as we used to have our chains of added costs between our companies. I think that we will have to look at all those issues from the perspective of the global competition, as I think that we will have to take, perhaps, difficult, but very important decisions in the nearest 12 months. I think that creation of the Common Economic Space, that we are currently in, despite of all the challenges we are facing, is very timely and will help us overcome those challenges and soften the coming shocks,” Prime-Minister said. Massimov said that the day before he met with European bankers who were interested in the way of further functioning of the united economies of Kazakhstan, Russia and Belarus and in whether creation of the CES should be considered at step to fence off the markets. “We need to give clear answers, so that there is no dual interpretation. First of all, we will all enter the WTO: Russia is entering pretty soon and Kazakhstan, we are hoping, will enter in the nearest 12 months. So the principles of global competition and involvement in global processes are not contradicting creation of the Common Economic Space On the contrary, they supplement each other,” Karim Massimov explained. According to him, European and global economies are not in the best condition. The problems that the EU is facing rights now, are not grounded in purely economical diffuculties but rather in political ones, in particular, in the differences of development levels of the countries that entered the EU. “While ensuring practical functioning, while discussing these problems, while solving these issues we have to closely consider both positive and negative experience of the European Union and its way of development. We have to discuss every step and move forward,” Massimov said. According to him, for this particular reason Prime-Ministers of the three countries have made a decision to create a common work group of Economy Ministers at the last meeting in Saint-Petersburg.