Keeping Pace in the Competition of Preferential Regimes

31 August 2022

Keeping Pace in the Competition of Preferential Regimes

The 7th Eastern Economic Forum, taking place from 5 to 8 September in Vladivostok, will host a session on the new challenges and topical problems of the preferential regimes of the Far East and the Arctic as part of the event’s business programme.

The participants will discuss development opportunities for the Far East, the effectiveness of existing business support measures, the need to change current preferential regimes in the changing foreign policy and economic environment, and will consider best practices for supporting business in competition for investors. The discussion will be attended by Nikolai Zapryagaev, General Director of the Far East and Arctic Development Corporation and Andrei Kutepov, Chairman of the Federative Council Committee on Economic Policy.

The preferential regimes of the Far East and the Arctic (ASEZ, FPV, and AZRF) will facilitate the creation of more than 3,100 enterprises that will employ over 200,000 people. Total investment in projects announced by residents will exceed RUB 6.5 trillion. Residents of FPV and ASEZs represent almost all industries: from fishery and agriculture to shipbuilding and gas chemistry, with 75% of investments already made in processing companies.

“Over half a thousand new production facilities have already been created and launched inside the preferential regimes. The current results have been achieved thanks to a set of state support measures initiated in 2014 by the order of the President of Russia. At that time, advanced social economic zones and the Free Port were established, which are the best and most competitive investment offerings in Russia and the Asia-Pacific Region. They have enabled the Far East to achieve growth in both industrial production and in fixed capital investment above the national average. Other regions of the country are not standing still and are introducing new support measures, making the decision to open new enterprises in the Far East more and more difficult for investors. All other things being equal, the remoteness, the scale and the climatic features of our territories increase the cost of building new enterprises in the Far Eastern Federal District. But the future of the country, new niches, and access to the world's fastest-growing markets are here. We need to look for new ways and apply the best practices that already exist in the Russian Federation to support Russia's economic turnaround to the East and attract new investors, create the most favourable conditions for doing business, and qualitatively improve conditions for working and living in the Far East,” says Nikolai Zapryagaev, CEO of the Far East and Arctic Development Corporation.

The head of the Far East Development Corporation also noted that tourism, agriculture, heavy industry, and the production of building materials are among the priority sectors for attracting investment to the Far Eastern Federal District. It is necessary to have separate tracks to support investors and sectoral preferences for them.

“Accelerated development of the Far East is one of the priorities of Russia's state policy. Now more than ever, it is important to eliminate the factors that hinder economic growth in the Far Eastern region: develop an efficient transportation infrastructure, accelerate the gasification of territories, create comfortable working conditions so that there is no outflow of specialists and workers, introduce additional measures of social support for indigenous residents and those who come to develop the territory,” says Andrey Kutepov, chairman of the Federative Council Committee on Economic Policy.

The socio-economic development of regions directly depends on measures of state and regional support for business, the level of transport and social infrastructure, the accessibility of markets for products, as well as the ease of establishing and maintaining foreign economic relations. Under the conditions of a tense external economic agenda and the introduction of restrictive measures on the movement of products, technologies and people, it is necessary to look for new points of growth within regions.

The programme of the 7th Eastern Economic Forum includes more than 90 business events, including panel sessions, round tables, and business dialogues. The theme of the Forum is ‘The Path to a Multipolar World’. Detailed information about the architecture of the EEF 2022 business programme is available at the official website forumvostok.ru. The organizer of the Eastern Economic Forum is the Roscongress Foundation.

All the latest news about preparations for the EEF 2022 is available in the Forum’s official social media networks.

Telegram: t.me/roscongress

VKontakte: Eastern Economic Forum (vk.com)

Keeping Pace in the Competition of Preferential Regimes

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