International Desk

MOSCOW, April 11. /TASS/. Eurasia has enormous potential as the global economy is shifting eastward, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Tuesday.

"The Eurasian continent has a bright future, now that the center of global economic development has shifted here, to the east of the Eurasian continent. These objective comparative advantages should be used to the mutual benefit of all organizations and countries located there," Russia’s top diplomat said at a press conference following talks with his Kazakh counterpart Murat Nurtleu.

He added that the work to form a great Eurasian partnership, the idea of which was put forward by Russian President Vladimir Putin, has begun to gain momentum. "Some time ago, more precisely, in 2016, [Russian] President [Vladimir] Putin at the Russia-ASEAN summit suggested working towards forming a great Eurasian partnership on our continent with the participation, as he stressed, of all organizations and all countries located there, without exception. This, undoubtedly, is a huge goal, but the work has already started," Lavrov said.
Eurasian transport links

The top Russian diplomat pointed to Russia’s contribution to the development of logistics within Eurasia, recalling the Trans-Siberian Railway, the Baikal-Amur Mainline and the Northern Sea Route.

"All <…> aspects of the task to develop the transport and logistics potential [on the continent] are of great priority. The first priority for us at the moment is the International North-South Transport Corridor, which is now actively being implemented. Following its completion, a steady operational connection between the Baltic Sea and the Persian Gulf, as well as the Indian Ocean, will be ensured. This will largely reduce trade costs throughout our large Eurasian continent," Lavrov pointed out.

He added that Kazakhstan was also actively involved in transportation projects, such as the transport route through the Caspian Sea.