Russian International Economic Integration
Russia is currently involved in several forms of international economic integrations, and is also trying to gain access to new ones in the future. Russia is a member of the Asian-Pacific Economic Cooperation(APEC), Black Sea Economic Cooperation(BSEC), Eurasian Economic Community, and is currently petitioning to join the European Union, as well as, the World Trade Organization. Russia joined the APEC on November 14 through 15 in 1998. Members of the APEC includes, the United States, Canada, New Zealand, Peru, Chile, Japan, as well as 15 other countries. “Known as APEC’s ‘Three Pillars,’ APEC focuses of three key areas: trade investment liberalization, business facilitation, and economic and technical cooperation.”(APEC) Main fucntions of these areas are to reduce and end tariffs and other barriers, reduce the cost of business expenditures, and to build cooperation among member countries and promote international business. The Black Sea Economic Cooperation was created on June 25 1992 with Russia as one the founding countries along side ten other countries. The BSEC has several areas of focus including, Banking and Finance, environmental protection, and trade and economic development. “In February 1997, the Ministers of Foreign Affairs and the Ministers responsible for economic affairs from the BSEC Member States adopted the Declaration of intent for the establishment of a BSEC free trade area.”(BSEC) The Eurasian Economic Community was created in May 2000 by Russian president Vladimir Putin, in an attempt to create a new economic agreement, replacing the Customs Union of Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyztan, and Russia. Russia is also a member of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), Single Economic Space (SES), Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), Belarus-Russia Union (the Union State), and the Central Asian Cooperation Organization (CACO). Russian is currently trying to gain entry into the World