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The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) should focus on development of the common economic space, Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko said as he met with heads of the delegations to the CIS Heads of Government Council session on 28 May, BelTA news agency reported. 

“One of the unshakable priorities of the foreign policy of the Republic of Belarus today is building closer cooperation within our association. ...It is obvious that the governments of the CIS countries and the CIS bodies should focus on the development of the common economic space,” Lukasheno said, adding: “Let me say it straight: unless we deal with this matter in the near future, the Commonwealth of Independent States can hardly be efficient. More so, the EAEU cannot be efficient either. The time has come to finally dot all the i's and take a decision to build a true foundation for our inter-state relations. The foundation is the economy.”

According to him, successful economic integration is impossible without improvement of the CIS documents and their harmonization with the regulatory framework of the Eurasian Economic Union. “After that we should effectively move forward,” Aleksandr Lukashenko added.