5 September 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.