On 5-6 October 2022, Moscow hosted the II Caspian Economic Forum, which provided a platform for discussing topical issues of cooperation between the countries participating in the Caspian region, alongside with their partner border countries.
The Forum included the discussion of developing trade and economic cooperation, interaction in the field of ecology, energy, transport and logistics, energetics and tourism, urban infrastructure and social and humanitarian sphere. The event was attended by official delegations from the countries of the Caspian Five, representatives of federal and regional authorities, and heads of leading companies.
The Forum included a roundtable discussion titled "The Caspian Region as Part of the Greater Eurasian Partnership: New Challenges and Development Prospects". During the event the participants discussed the role of the Caspian region in today's global economy, its competitive advantages and limitations in the current environment, as well as promising areas for cooperation in the region. The round table was moderated by Dmitry Volvach, Deputy Minister of Economic Development of the Russian Federation.
Alexander Murychev, Chairman of the FBA EAC Board and Vice President of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (RSPP), told the participants of the roundtable that, according to the survey conducted by RSPP in August, 92% of Russian companies believe that, given the violation of global "rules of the game", there is a need to develop their own rules on the base of platforms provided by SCO, BRICS, EAEU etc. Of course, the conceptual dimension of the partnership should be complemented by joint business projects involving all parties, 'tailored' to the development of transport and logistics (for example, the North-South ITC, West-East ITC, etc.), agribusiness (the New Land Grain Corridor), energy (the Asian Energy Ring), finance (mutual penetration of national payment systems such as MIR and UnionPay and implementation of the BRICS-pay initiative), etc.
 According to the RSPP representative, in the current environment it is especially important to pay more attention to bridging information gaps as a factor for enhancing cooperation, including informing about key projects and plans. The EAEU Business Council signed memoranda of cooperation with partners from Mongolia, Iran and Cuba, Moldova and the International Congress of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (ICIE), which brings together national unions of industrialists and entrepreneurs from 26 countries.
Alexander Murychev stressed that this system continues to develop: "Next year, cooperation with partners in third country markets on the external perimeter of the Union will be one of the central themes of the RSPP Chairmanship in the EAEU Business Council. He emphasized that the partnership with the countries of the Caspian region is an important area for further development of our business dialogue system as a structural element of business cooperation in the Greater Eurasia area. Thus, RSPP and its Iranian partners are setting up the Russian-Iranian Business Cooperation Council, which is interested in forming a pool of joint projects for prompt implementation.
Alexander Murychev then drew the discussion participants' attention to the need to develop support institutions for business partnership in the Greater Eurasian area. He noted that business is satisfied with the progress in a number of relevant areas. Thus, following the results of the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council held on August 26, 2022, it was decided to finalize the Agreement on the Establishment of the Eurasian Reinsurance Company (ERC). Business not only supports the signing of the agreement on the establishment of the ERC, but also suggests that projects in the field of transport, storage, logistics and international leasing activities be implemented as a matter of priority. It is reasonable to make provisions for the possibility of participation of the ERC in international reinsurance companies providing insurance for foreign trade activities with countries outside the EAEU, primarily with the BRICS and SCO countries.
Alexander Murychev said: "At the same time, when working on proposals for the practical implementation of institutional initiatives, it is necessary to make full use of digitalization opportunities, contributing to a closed inclusive trading system, protected from the negative influence of third parties, ensuring reliability and transparency of transactions for regulators, and scalable to cooperation with interested third countries."
In addition, in his view, the development of transport infrastructure and cross-border settlement mechanisms will increase the efficiency and security of cooperation and reduce transaction costs. Much work needs to be done to ensure cross-border settlements involving Russian companies. In the shortest possible time, a system should be set up to identify and support the areas, currencies and settlement mechanisms that are of highest priority for business and to help inform businesses in the most confidential manner about the opportunities for international (cross-border) settlements in the current environment.