Kazakh Leader Says EAEU Member-States Need to Reach Same Level of Development

Kazakhstan's President Nursultan Nazarbayev said Tuesday stressed Tuesday that all member-states of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) should be brought to one level of economic development in order to do cooperation work on equal conditions.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — It is necessary to bring all the countries-members of the EAEU to the same level of development for a more equal cooperation, Nazarbayev said in an interview with Mir TV channel.

"We need to bring all EAEU members to the same level. Nowadays some [countries] are very advanced, some are in the middle, and others are backward. That is the problem. We must bring all them up to work in a more equal way," Nazarbayev said.

He added that the less-developed countries hoped for assistance from other members of the union, adding though that it was necessary not only to count on other states but to make efforts themselves.

"Of course, it is necessary to help. It can be done through trade, turnover, opening markets for trade, opening borders. But each state needs to make its way to a certain level," Nazarbayev said.

The EAEU, comprising Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, is an international organization that encourages regional economic integration through the free movement of goods, services, and people within the union.