The strategy of the President of the Republic of Korea Moon Jae-in on cooperating with regions to the north is intended to create the necessary conditions to encourage Russian–Korean trade, economic, and investment cooperation in the Russian Far East. The joint implementation of the ‘Nine Bridges’ concept has been proposed as part of this policy, including cooperation in such areas as energy and gas, the Northern Sea Route, the development of agriculture, seafood production, etc. At present, six investment projects that are partly funded by the Republic of Korea (to the tune of over USD 50 million in total) are being pursued under the new mechanisms for developing the Russian Far East. South Korean companies are discussing the possibility of funding and carrying out promising new projects worth a total of USD 1.1 billion. The implementation of the ‘Nine Bridges’ partnership concept should give a new impetus to the growth of trade and investment cooperation between the regions of the Russian Far East and the Republic of Korea. How can we move from diplomacy to the practical implementation of investment projects, including under the aegis of the ‘Nine Bridges’ cooperation concept? What barriers hamper the implementation of Russian–Korean investment projects? Which areas are the most promising for jumpstarting Russian–Korean business dialogue?

Moderators:
Sergey Katyrin — President, Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation
Kim Young Ju — Chairman, Chief Executive Officer, Korea International Trade Association

Welcoming address:
Lee Nak-yon — Prime Minister of the Republic of Korea

Panellists:
Vitaly Verkeenko — Mayor of Vladivostok
Choi Won Bo — General Director, Lotte International Primorsky Branch
Olga Golodets — Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation
Olga Epifanova — Deputy Chair, State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation
Lee Kang-deok — Mayor of Pohang Metropolitan City
Alexander Misharin — First Deputy Chief Executive Officer, Russian Railways
Vadim Moshkovich — Chairman of the Board of Directors, Rusagro
Alexey Rakhmanov — President, United Shipbuilding Corporation
Ka Sam-hyun — President, Hyundai Heavy Industries Co Ltd
Gu Hyun-Mo — Director, Chief Strategy Officer, KT Corporation
Jae-Young Lee — President, Korea Institute for International Economic Policy
Song Cheol-ho — Mayor of Ulsan Metropolitan City

Trade between Russia and ASEAN countries grew 35% in 2017, but the potential for trade, economic, and investment cooperation is not being fully utilized. The Far East could provide a foothold enabling Russia to intensify its economic cooperation with the ASEAN. The region already possesses favourable conditions for international investment. A number of infrastructure, agricultural, and shipbuilding projects are now underway in the Far East with the participation of ASEAN countries. Promising areas for cooperation also include energy, infrastructure development, the agroindustrial sector, engineering, technology, and forestry. The digital transformation of the economy is a priority for both Russia and the ASEAN. It is therefore important to focus on developing cooperation in information and communications technologies, the media, and data security. What problems and challenges need to be addressed to successfully develop economic cooperation between the ASEAN and Russia? In which industries do projects have the largest investment potential? What changes and what kinds of support are required to attract investment from ASEAN businesses?

Moderator:
Ivan Polyakov — Chairman, Russia - ASEAN Business Council

Panellists:
Sakon Varanyuwatana — Vice Minister of Commerce of the Kingdom of Thailand
Sergey Katyrin — President, Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation
Sergey Komyshan — Member of the Management Board, Executive Director, SIBUR
Artem Malgin — Vice Rector, MGIMO University
Leonid Petukhov — Chief Executive Officer, Far East Investment and Export Agency
Carlos Sorreta — Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of the Philippines in the Russian Federation
Nguyen Chi Dung — Minister of Planning and Investment of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam
Sergey Tsivilev — Acting Governor of the Kemerovo Region
Brian Chang — Director, Singapore Oil and Energy
Alexey Shevtsov — Managing Director, Head of Blockchain Technology Development, State Corporation Bank for Development and Foreign Economic Affairs (Vnesheconombank)

Front row participants:
Anna Belyaeva — Managing Director for International Development, Russian Export Center
Ju Khee Hong — Director of Operations, ASEAN Business Club

Thanks to the joint measures that have been taken over the past year, the Russian Far East has developed much closer relationships with the Japanese business community, and there is every reason to expect that projects will move to the practical implementation stage in the coming year. In the Far East, 14 investment projects involving Japan are being implemented. On 27 April, during the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, an agreement was signed to create a joint Russian–Japanese platform to support Japanese investments in the Russian Far East. The platform is accompanied by eight projects with total investment of more than USD 120 million. What support has the Russian Government provided for the projects that are being implemented? What changes are needed to attract additional investment from Japanese businesses? Will the platform act as a successful tool for attracting Japanese capital to the Far East?

Moderators:
Shigeru Murayama — President, Japan Association for Trade with Russia and the NIS (ROTOBO); Chairman of the Board of Directors, Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Ltd.
Alexey Repik — President, Delovaya Rossiya (Business Russia)

Panellists:
Teruo Asada — Chair, Japan-Russia Business Cooperation Committee, Keidanren; Chairman of the Board of Directors, Marubeni Corporation
Kirill Dmitriev — Chief Executive Officer, Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF)
Masami Iijima — Representative Director, Chairman of the Board of Directors, Mitsui & Co., Ltd
Eiichi Yonekura — Representative Director, Senior Executive Vice President, SKY Perfect JSAT Corporation
Tadashi Maeda — Governor of the Board of Directors, Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC)
Alexander Misharin — First Deputy Chief Executive Officer, Russian Railways
Aysen Nikolaev — Acting Head of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia)
Takao Nishida — Deputy Secretary General, Hokuto Social Medical Corporation
Maxim Oreshkin — Minister of Economic Development of the Russian Federation
Tatsuya Terazawa — Vice Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan for International Affairs
Sergey Tsivilev — Acting Governor of the Kemerovo Region
Vadim Shvetsov — Chief Executive Officer, Member of the Board of Directors, SOLLERS

Front row participants:
Grigory Berezkin — Chairman of the Board of Directors, ESN Group
Satsuki Katayama — Director of the Special Committee on Reconstruction after the Great East Japan Earthquake, House of Councillors of the National Diet of Japan
Aleksandr Nosov — Deputy Chairman of the Management Board for Investments and Strategic Planning, Russian Highways State Company
Koji Omi — Founder, Chairman, Science and Technology in Society Forum (STS forum)

Russian–Chinese relations have steadily improved over the past year: the volume of foreign trade between Russia's Far Eastern regions and the People’s Republic of China in 2017 amounted to USD 7.7 billion, 28.3% more than in the same period last year. The export of goods from the Far Eastern Federal District to China increased by 31.5% in 2017. Chinese companies are carrying out more than 40 investment projects in the Russian Far East, eight of which were launched in 2018. However, the full potential of Russian–Chinese trade, as well as economic and investment cooperation, has still not been achieved. Thus, there are still broad opportunities in the areas of infrastructure development, transport and logistics, forestry, tourism, agribusiness, petrochemicals, and aquaculture. What conditions need to be in place to foster trade and economic cooperation and attract Chinese investment? Which support measures and mechanisms might provide additional incentives for investors from China? Which of the regulations that have been adopted have spurred the growth of investment, and what new legislative initiatives are still being developed? What are the funding channels for Russian and Chinese companies that wish to carry out projects in the Russian Far East?

Moderators:
Dmitry Mezentsev — Chairman of the Council of the Federation of the Russian Federation Committee on Economic Policy
Liqun Zhou — President, Union of Chinese Entrepreneurs Elus

Panellists:
Maxim Akimov — Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation
Grigory Berezkin — Chairman of the Board of Directors, ESN Group
Zhu Bixin — Director, President, China Chengtong Holdings Group Ltd
Sun Guoqiang — President, Zhongding Dairy Farming Co., Ltd
Yinbiao Shu — Chairman, State Grid Corporation of China
Mikhail Karisalov — Chairman of the Management Board, Chief Executive Officer, SIBUR
Alexander Kozlov — Minister for the Development of the Russian Far East
Sergey Kolesnikov — President, TechnoNICOL Corporation
Konstantin Lashkevich — President, RFP Holding
Vadim Moshkovich — Chairman of the Board of Directors, Rusagro
Leonid Petukhov — Chief Executive Officer, Far East Investment and Export Agency
Andrey Starkov — Deputy General Director, JSC Russian Railways
Yaqing Xiao — Chairman, State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council (SASAC)
Zhou Xiaochuan — Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors, Boao Forum for Asia
Zhang Zongyan — Chief Executive Officer, China Railway Group Limited
Cai Zemin — Managing Director, China Railway Dongfang Group
Lyu Jun — Chairman, COFCO Corporation
Sergey Tsivilev — Acting Governor of the Kemerovo Region
Liu Qitao — Executive Director, Chairman of the Board of Directors, China Communications Construction Company Limited
Bayin Chaolu — First Secretary, Jilin Provincial Committee (People’s Republic of China), Communist Party of China
Alexey Chekunkov — Chief Executive Officer, Far East and Baikal Region Development Fund
Qingwei Zhang — First Secretary of the Heilongjiang Provincial Committee (People’s Republic of China), Communist Party of China

The interest expressed by European business circles in the Russian Far East has not weakened despite the current sanctions regime. This has been confirmed by the number of completed and planned business missions from France, the Netherlands, Austria, Switzerland, and Denmark to the regions of the Far East. The progress that the Swiss company Molumin AG has achieved in carrying out a project to develop the Shanuch and Kvinum deposits, as well as the decision to build an international luxury goods storage centre similar to Le Freeport Luxembourg, are just two examples of this positive trend. European businesses are interested in projects in the fields of agriculture, medicine, infrastructure, and mining, and in the Arctic. In order to facilitate cooperation with European investors, a decision was made to open an office of the Far East Investment and Export Agency in Europe. Are sanctions an obstacle for European companies who wish to pursue investment projects in the Far East? Which industries are the most promising? Which measures need to be taken to increase the attractiveness of the Russian Far East in the eyes of European entrepreneurs?

Moderator:
Andrey Sharonov — President, Moscow School of Management SKOLKOVO

Panellists:
Mikhail Akim — Vice President, ABB Ltd; Chairman, Working Group for Modernization and Innovations, Association of European Businesses (AEB)
Sylvie-Agnes Bermann — Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the French Republic to the Russian Federation
Tero Vauraste — President, Chief Executive Officer, Arctia Ltd; Chair, Arctic Economic Council
Emmanuel Quidet — President, French-Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry
Alexander Kozlov — Minister for the Development of the Russian Far East
Alexander Liberov — Commercial Director, Siemens Russia

Front row participants:
Gianni Bardazzi — Vice President for Russia and Caspian Region, Maire Tecnimont SpA
Christian Wolfensberger — Chairman of the Board of Directors, Molumin AG
Aleksandr Nosov — Deputy Chairman of the Management Board for Investments and Strategic Planning, Russian Highways State Company