Alexei Overchuk attends opening ceremony at Eurasian Fund for Stabilisation and Development headquarters
An opening ceremony was held in the capital of Kazakhstan for the headquarters of the Eurasian Fund for Stabilisation and Development (EFSD). Attending the ceremony were Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Alexei Overchuk, Deputy Prime Minister – Minister of National Economy of the Republic of Kazakhstan Serik Zhumangarin, as well as EFSD Managing Director Andrei Shirokov, and delegations from the fund’s founding states.
The Eurasian Fund for Stabilisation and Development, a regional financial mechanism with assets worth 8.513 billion dollars, was established by Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan in 2009. It was set up to overcome the negative consequences resulting from crises situations, as well as ensure lasting stability and promote integration of the Fund member-countries’ economies.
In his remarks, the Russian Deputy Prime Minister stressed that the opening of the EFSD office in Astana indicates a crucial stage in the fund’s development and its evolution into an independent international financial organisation.
“The EFSD has worked for many years as part of the Eurasian Development Bank and has gained a reputation of a professional international financial institution operating in the area of budget support and budget stabilisation. The fund conducts extensive investment work, including in the energy sector, transport and logistics,” Alexei Overchuk said.
According to him, the fund is becoming an increasingly important centre of technical support and macroeconomic expertise, and the EFSD’s analytical products are popular and relevant for the global development institutions.
“The location of the EFSD headquarters in Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan, the very centre of Eurasia and an international financial centre, indicates that the fund will be able to effectively pursue its tasks in conjunction with other financial institutions, and this is important for a stable and creative development of the Greater Eurasia region,” the Deputy Prime Minister said.
Alexei Overchuk also noted the fund’s extensive efforts to support and promote the Russian language, the Russian education system and educational standards in Central Asia. As an example, he cited the construction of nine secondary schools with Russian as the language of instruction in the Central Asian region. The Deputy Prime Minister congratulated the participants of the ceremony on the significant event, expressed gratitude to the EFSD staff for their work, and wished the fund further success in its operations.
