Trade and economic relations between the EAEU member states and the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean at the present stage: the cases of Armenia and Kazakhstan

Abstract

In the context of a changing world order, the development of regional integration processes is an important trigger for the inclusion of countries in the world economy and increasing the sustainability of national economies. Integration processes contribute to deepening of the interdependence of different countries, as well as to the expansion of the influence of world economic relations on national economic systems. At the same time, tendency towards the erosion of institutions and mechanisms of multilateral (global) trade and the formation of preferential regional and interregional trade agreements (partners in which are often not only individual countries, but also integration blocs), has become one of the characteristic features of modern international economic relations. The Eurasian Economic Union, as an international organization for regional economic integration, makes efforts to expand geographical boundaries of foreign economic ties, with the aim of developing relations with the economic integration groupings and individual countries throughout the world. With the same purpose EAEU member states pay attention to the development of relations with the region of Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), considering regional countries as promising partners for mutually beneficial cooperation. This article is devoted to the study of trade relations between the countries of the EAEU and Latin America. Special attention is paid to the trade and economic relations of Armenia and Kazakhstan with Latin American countries. The choice of these two states is not accidental, since they are relatively active in the Latin American direction and complement the policy of the Russian Federation aimed at deepening cooperation with the LAC. The author concludes that these countries have the potential for further development of trade and economic relations, the implementation of which requires overcoming, first of all, logistical obstacles and tariff barriers.