OREANDA-NEWS. May 24, 2012. Belarus and Kazakhstan have identical views on the development of the Common Economic Space, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said Monday at a meeting with Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev held in Minsk.

The Common Economic Space, the newly established international structure comprising Russia, Belarus, and Kazakhstan, came into effect on January 1, 2012. The system is meant to provide free goods, services, and capital flow through its member states.

“When it comes to the Common Economic Space, we have absolutely identical views and far-reaching prospects,” Lukashenko said, adding that Belarus and Kazakhstan economically complement each other.

Also, Lukashenko said that the two countries “have no unsolvable political problems.” He also said that the two counties have approached a volume of trade worth USD 1 billion.

During the meeting, Lukashenko encouraged Kazakhstan to invest in Belarusian enterprises. “We are ready to provide priority support to the interests of investors from Kazakhstan. Belarus is ready to welcome Kazakh business that wants to participate in our privatization programme,” Lukashenko said.

In turn, Nazarbayev said Belarus is a strategic partner for Kazakhstan. “The Common Economic Space is bringing us closer to each other. Nowadays, on the post-Soviet territory, there are no closer allies than Belarus, Russia, and Kazakhstan,” Nazarbayev added.

Nazarbayev confirmed that Kazakhstan would be interested in purchasing stakes in some Belarusian enterprises.

Since early this year, when the Customs Union was launched, Kazakhstan saw its trade turnover with Belarus expand by 70%, Nazarbayev informed. “We feel the influence of the Customs Union,” he said.

Following the meeting, Belarus and Kazakhstan signed 8 official documents, including business cooperation memorandums between companies, which specialize in geo information technologies and oil refining.