Today, our planet is experiencing radical changes in both geopolitics and macroeconomics. The majority of the international community is aware of the need to build truly fair cooperation without any discrimination and with preserved sovereignity for all participants. At the same time, it is fundamentally important to save the traditional and cultural historical characteristics of various states and peoples.
Apparently, the time of globalization according to the old rules has come to an end. It is time for a search of new rules and a new balance of power, including economics, where integration associations are to adapt to new conditions in order to maintain efficiency.
It is obvious that a new fair multipolar world order can only be formed through the joint activities of member states representatives of the world community and international organizations. In this regard, the Eurasian continent is becoming today the flagship of regional integration.
This integration is focused, first of all, on the Greater Eurasian countries interests. The Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), the BRICS, the system of economic cooperation within the framework of the ‘One Belt – One Road’ concept, and initiatives of the ASEAN states are developing. Ensuring synergy rather than competition of Eurasian projects we can meet the interests of all powers of the continent.
This is the idea of Greater Eurasia or the Greater Economic Partnership (GEP): to build a space for joint development by creating a system of economic relations that takes into account the interests of all participants. In addition to national and supranational integration projects, the institute of public international associations and organizations is developing.
We see a complex of international social, economic, scientific, educational, socio-cultural aspects of interaction between states and peoples as their goals. A young but promising organization of this kind is the International Organization of Eurasian Cooperation (IOEC). The IOEC carries out activities to promote Eurasian integration in various spheres of public relations in the Greater Eurasia space by interacting with government officials, international organizations, business communities, experts, scientists and artists, and representatives of religions.
The IOEC began with the organization of its own international events. Thus, in December 2022, the ‘Eurasian integration process: present and future’ international Forum took place in Moscow. The experts from the EAEU member states made presentations to the audience. The representatives of the Eurasian Economic Commission, the CIS Executive Committee, officials and representatives of public organizations from Russia, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan took part in the Forum.
The event was organized jointly with the Diplomatic Academy of the Russian Foreign Ministry, the academy became the venue for the event. The Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov sent welcoming words to the forum participants, where he noted the importance of ‘promoting the integration agenda at all levels, including expert and analytical levels.’
The Forum became an open platform for discussing current issues of Eurasian integration development, such as the strategic development of Eurasian integration, economics and business as drivers of Eurasian integration, humanitarian factors in Eurasian integration.
In June 2023, Russian-Armenian conference took place in Yerevan (Armenia), organized jointly with the Research and Analytical Public Organization ‘Integration and Development’ (Armenia). The representatives of official authorities and the business community, leading political scientists and experts, lawyers, political and public figures, as well as representatives of the diplomatic corps attended the event.
The various issues of the bilateral cooperation were discussed at the conference, including the development of trade and economic relations, industrial agenda and investment, humanitarian cooperation, issues of protecting the rights and freedoms of citizens and businesses, and many others.
The IOEC is included in several international commissions. Another IOEC’s integral project is the positioning of its integration approaches and initiatives and participation in various international events, such as SPIEF, SPBILF, EEF, Anti-Counterfeiting Forum and others.
To expand the geography and capabilities of the IOEC in the Greater Eurasia area, the agreements on interaction and cooperation are concluded with official bodies and public associations. An example of this is the agreements concluded by the IOEC with the Embassy of the Kyrgyz Republic in Moscow, the International Congress of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, the Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs of the Kyrgyz Republic, the Bar of the Kyrgyz Republic, the Eurasian Peoples’ Assembly, the Kyrgyz-Russian Business Council, the Industrial Cluster of the Republic of Tatarstan and other organizations.
The new stage of Eurasian integration is forming new decision-making centers. The ‘New Era – New Ways’ World Forum is becoming a center of a multipolar world. It was created by IOEC and brings together the representatives of government and business authorities, experts, scientists and cultural figures from the states of the EAEU, CIS, East and Southeast Asia, Africa, the Persian Gulf and other regions of the world.
The World Forum is an emerging intellectual center of a multipolar world, uniting the representatives of international organizations, authorities, business, the expert community, scientists and cultural figures from various countries. Its work will be carried out on a regular basis through meetings of expert bodies (Committees) in various areas of public relations.
The main goal of the World Forum is to shape common fair future through the development and promotion of tools for a multipolar world. Within the framework of the World Forum, it is planned to discuss such issues as promoting the implementation of the initiative to create a Greater Eurasian Partnership; joint development of the digital economy; cooperation in the field of economic integration and international payments; human rights activities; protection of basic principles and norms of international law; implementation of international humanitarian, legal, cultural, scientific, educational, social cooperation; assistance in organizing international industry professional associations and many others.
Among the main principles for constructing a discussion within the framework of the World Forum are equal cooperation of the participating countries and respect for sovereignty, preservation of traditional values and cultural and historical characteristics of states and peoples.
The first event of the World Forum, a retreat, took place on October 6, 2023 in Bishkek (Kyrgyzstan). The partners of the event were the Bar Association of the Kyrgyz Republic (Bishkek), the Bar association ‘Diktatura zakona’ (Moscow).
The event brought together well known government and public figures, representatives of the authorities of the EAEU states, the Eurasian Economic Commission, leaders of various political parties, heads of business structures, representatives of the scientific and religious communities.
Based on the results of the work, the formation of the governing and expert bodies of the World Forum began: the Executive Committee; Eurasian Lawyers Association; Committee on Interparliamentary Cooperation; Commission for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms; Commission for Scientific and Educational Cooperation; Committee for the Strategic Development of Economic Relations and Business; Committee for the Protection of Human Rights and Freedoms, Committee on Northern and Arctic Issues.
On April 19, 2024, a general meeting of participants of the ‘New Era – New Ways’ World Forum will be held in Moscow at the Digital Business Space site (Moscow, Pokrovka St., 47).
As part of the World Forum events, there will be a plenary session and thematic sections devoted to the development of business and economic relations in the Greater Eurasia space, harmonization of legislation and law enforcement, innovation and technology transfer in a multipolar world, cooperation in the field of protection of rights and freedoms, scientific and educational activities, issues of supporting public diplomacy as a way to overcome differences.
We are ready for an interesting and meaningful discussion that will help us to develop relevant proposals and recommendations based on the results. The event will attract the attention of a wide audience: the participation of representatives from 28 states has already been confirmed.
We are convinced that the World Forum will become a platform for mutually beneficial cooperation. We invite participants to join the discussions of the permanent ‘New Era – New Ways’ World Forum on the issues of understanding the aspects of the implementation of such initiatives as the Greater Eurasian Partnership (GEP), the issues of closer integration of the work of states within the framework of such associations as the EAEU, CIS, BRICS, SCO, APEC (the ‘integration of integrations’), harmonization of legal standards in the EAEU states, and generally deepening the understanding of international development processes in today’s changing world.