7 September 2022
KEY CONCLUSIONS
Russian business has a strong development potential in Asia Pacific
“Together with our clients and partners, we are looking for entry points to Asian markets. First of all, because they are the world’s biggest markets, and their consumption levels are constantly growing. Secondly, the volumes of our wheat, soy, corn, and canola are hardly noticeable, but they came quite in handy there. It means we will not have to face high competition and will sell our produce easily,” Aleksandr Generalov, President, Arnika-Holding.
“We see that trade volumes between Russia and China are growing. Between January and July 2022, the trade volumes between Russia and China were up 29% and reached USD 97.7 bln. We expect them to reach record-breaking levels by the end of the year. As the Union of Chinese Entrepreneurs in Russia, we stick to our mission: we support the Russian-Chinese business ties and strengthen business and political cooperation. <…> Today is the best time to turn mutual trust between Russia and China into practical projects,” Zhou Liqun, Chairman, Union of Chinese Entrepreneurs in Russia.
Far Eastern conditions and preferential regimes attract businesses
“Based on the fact that the Far East is a geostrategic territory and that we have the most dynamic economy in Asia, we definitely have a common future with Asian countries. <…> The Far East needs to have Russia’s best conditions and preferential regimes for doing business. <…> We will make it part of our legislation: the Far East must have the best things,” Alexey Chekunkov, Minister of the Russian Federation for the Development of the Far East and the Arctic.
“Honestly, the conditions created in the Far East as of today are enough for doing business on various levels. <…> There is an arranged system in terms of federal laws – I primarily mean ASEZ – and in terms of special conditions of investment protection and promotion agreements and in terms of regional governments and municipalities,” Mikhail Karisalov, Chairman of the Management Board, Chief Executive Officer, SIBUR.
“I believe that as of today support measures for SME in the Far East are better than for large business: amounts are higher, while interest rates are lower,” Aleksandr Isayevich, General Director – Chairman of the Management Board, Russian Small and Medium Business Corporation.
PROBLEMS
The need for expanding and upgrading the Baikal–Amur Mainline and the Trans-Siberian Railway
“What support measures do we need? I would highlight logistics. Due to its geography, our project has targeted Asia Pacific, especially China. <…> Because companies and cargo flows are rerouting eastward, we are now facing a huge problem with logistics at BAM and the Trans-Siberian Railway, including border control points. The main problem that needs to be resolved is eliminating these bottlenecks,” Yerkozha Akylbek, Chairman of the Board of Directors, Udokan Copper.
“We are facing logistical issues that are in the way of rerouting our cargo flow from the European part of Russia to its Asian gate – the seaport of Nakhodka. We understand that the railway capacity is not limitless. Unfortunately, we аlready see its limits. Sometimes we witness a situation when a promising product is needed in Asia Pacific – coal, for example – our products that are needed here immediately get delayed. Our infrastructure was not prepared, unfortunately,” Aleksandr Generalov, President, Arnika-Holding.
“There is a painful topic that has been mentioned at this Forum multiple times: the products we make under our investment projects meet insufficient railway capacity,” Anna Tsivileva, Chairman of the Board of Directors, Kolmar Group.
SOLUTIONS
Further development of the Far East takes more attention to diversifying the economy and medium-sized business
“The next area of the Far East development is industry diversification and a bigger share of services. <…> Supply begets demand,” Alexey Chekunkov, Minister of the Russian Federation for the Development of the Far East and the Arctic.
“Doing business in the Far East is more important because shipment distance to Asia Pacific is shorter here. <…> Medium-sized business is the cornerstone of the Far East development, because the markets here are not as big, with lower population and higher distances. Of course, growing into a large business is hard,” Anatoly Popov, Deputy Chairman of the Executive Board, Sberbank.
For more information, visit the Roscongress Foundation’s Information and Analytical System roscongress.org.
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