5 September 2024

Preliminary outcomes of Eastern Economic Forum 2024

In Vladivostok, Yury Trutnev, Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation and Plenipotentiary Envoy of the President of the Russian Federation to the Far Eastern Federal District, summarized the preliminary results of the three days of the 9th Eastern Economic Forum.

“The 9th Eastern Economic Forum is nearing completion. This Forum, in fact, is breaking the records of previous forums. This year, over 7 thousand people from 75 countries, including 16 unfriendly countries, are taking part in the Forum. For reference, 62 countries were represented last year. Traditionally, representatives of government and business from major developed countries come to the Eastern Economic Forum, because they understand that this is the place to figure out the trajectory of Asia Pacific’s development as the world’s strategic region. Signed agreements are among the important aspects of the Forum. Here we have a record as well: 258 agreements have been signed for a total of RUB 5.395 trillion,” said Yury Trutnev.

In his turn, Alexei Chekunkov, Minister of the Russian Federation for the Development of the Far East and Arctic, announced a number of major agreements signed at the Forum, including the ones on the creation of a chemical complex in Komi Republic; attracting research and engineering teams within the framework of Russky innovative centre of science and technology; the construction of a timber processing complex in Sakhalin Region.

Yury Trutnev also noted the importance of the upcoming signing of an agreement between the Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation and the VOIN centre for military and sports training and patriotic education. “Under this agreement, the VOIN centre will undertake the development of teaching methods, and most importantly – the training of teachers who will teach primary military training in all schools in Russia. In general, this is the way we will make our country stronger,” stressed Deputy Prime Minister.

According to Yury Trutnev, the most important results of the Eastern Economic Forum are the decisions of Russian President Vladimir Putin that are made on the sidelines of the EEF, including after his meeting with the moderators. This year, the moderators summarized the results of the key sessions on the following topics: tourism development and promotion, implementation of master plans, reducing administrative pressure, increasing the capacity of the logistics system of the Far Eastern Federal District and improving the efficiency of container logistics, identifying mechanisms for affordable financing of priority infrastructure and investment projects, and issues of science and technology development. “The President supported almost all of the proposals and assigned us to prepare a list of his instructions based on these proposals,” said Deputy Prime Minister.

He recalled that at the plenary session, the President named a number of decisions that were particularly important for the advanced socio-economic development of the Far East. They include: fixing the rate on preferential mortgage loans to residents of the Far East and Arctic regions at 2% until 2030; instructing the Russian Government and the State Duma to speed up work on the draft law on the creation of international territories of advanced development; using the Far East Concession tools to create an innovative science and technology centre on Russky Island; and defining the parameters and scope of transactions within the framework of a private-public partnership with VEB.RF.

 

 Another important decision is related to the allocation of RUB 100 billion from the approved limit from 2025 to 2030 for the implementation of masterplan projects for Far Eastern and Arctic cities.

Separately, Yury Trutnev noted the importance of the Head of State’s instruction to speed up the development of a programme for energy supply of the Far East until 2030.

Speaking about the importance of the Forum, Oleg Kozhemyako, Governor of Primorsky Territory, noted the region’s attractiveness for business, including foreign investors. “The Far East shows investment growth and, in general, the growth of gross regional product by region is much higher than the average for the Russian Federation. Therefore, of course, taking into account the proximity to the Asia Pacific countries, the role of Primorsky Territory is of great importance. It is of great importance to us that the President has approved the construction of an international territory of advanced development here. Now we are going to start this work with the Ministry for the Development of the Far East and other authorized agencies. Each Forum is a new step of development. Each Forum is an impetus that gives us a very good start for many years,” said the Governor.

On the sidelines of the Forum, the Russian Ministry for the Development of the Far East and Arctic approved new targets for attracting investment, taking into account existing investment projects and the preparation of new ones, for RUB 1.5 trillion by 2030, from RUB 10.5 trillion to RUB 12 trillion. Previous decisions have already made it possible to form a unique system for attracting investors in the Far East. For several years in a row, investment growth rates have exceeded the Russian average. Thanks to this, more than 2,800 investment projects worth RUB 9 trillion have already been attracted to the Far East, with investors actually bringing in RUB 4.2 trillion.

“We are changing the methodology for attracting investment to the Far East. Over the past period, we have harvested, as they say, the low-hanging fruit. That is, what was actually ready. In order for this to happen, 81 federal laws were adopted. Nevertheless, these were the projects that basically guarantee to attract investors. Today this is not enough. In order to maintain the current growth rates, we need new solutions, both financial and infrastructural, as well as industry-specific solutions that take into account the specifics of the Far East, logistics, the scale of the territory, and the climate. We will look at each sector and determine what opportunities exist for its development,’ said Yury Trutnev.

Summarizing the preliminary results, Deputy Prime Minister once again emphasized that the Eastern Economic Forum had become a working tool that creates opportunities for further effective work for the development of the Far East. “In my opinion, the Forum has not just taken place, it has worked out. This is evidenced by the number of agreements signed, their value, and, most importantly, the number of decisions taken by the President. Immediately after we return to Moscow, the government will hold a strategic session on the development of the Far East,’ he summarized. 

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