Far East Forum Offers More Opportunities for Collaborating with Asia-Pacific -By Kestér Kenn Klomegâh

With the rapidly-developing relations among Asian-Pacific countries, Russia is also diversifying and consolidating trade to the region. Russia is collaborating with Asian countries in trade and investment, strengthening its economic ties especially with China, India, North Korea and Vietnam. Through Eastern Economic Forum (EEF) planned for September 3-6 in Vladivostok by Roscongress Foundation will further facilitate relations among corporate business directors and potential investors from the Asian-Pacific region and the Far East region of Russia.

For the past few years, with the launch of the “special military operation” in Ukraine, and its consequent imposition of stringent sanctions by the United States and Europe, the forum has become an important platform for deepening comprehensive strategic partnership and building the necessary investment capacity with the Asian-Pacific region. In addition to taking measures for a broader traditional import-export type of corporate business, Russia is also seriously looking for priority sectors, including the extraction and processing of mineral resources, industry, agriculture, engineering, and energy.

According to the Advisor to the President of the Russian Federation, Executive Secretary of the EEF Organizing Committee, Anton Kobyakov, “this forum traditionally serves as a venue for discussion of key issues in the comprehensive development of both the Russian Far East and Arctic, and the Asia-Pacific region in general. In particular, forum participants – officials and members of the business and expert communities – discuss such issues as population maintenance, higher quality of life and living conditions, personnel training and modernization of infrastructure.”

Quite recently, Kobyakov described the forthcoming economic forum as an efficient tool for developing international multilateral cooperation in the Asia-Pacific, it brings together leaders of the top APAC countries for discussing significant aspects of the global economy. As one of the biggest forums in Russia, it attracts several thousands of participants, including representatives of ministries and government bodies, financial and investment organizations, startups, and tech and innovation companies, and representatives of the media.

The panel discussions, round-tables and business breakfasts are dedicated to the most relevant topics on contemporary business and new investment solutions for accelerating growth. The participants would be looking for new ways and methods for improving business environment as well as making steps into diverse business culture. It worth to note that Russia’s unique geographical location makes it a bridge across to Asia-Pacific region.

The Eastern Economic Forum was established by decree of President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, in 2015 to support the economic development of Russia’s Far East and to expand international cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region.

Putin has been making efforts to transform the Far East into a vibrant industrial and commercial region by attracting both local and foreign investors. The Russian government has allocated huge budget for its development. Putin has stated, several times, that the government implements additional initiatives to drive economy, rebuild infrastructure and intensify efforts to improve investment climate, and create employment opportunities there as part of its priority programme.

Given the vast territory of the Far East, 6.3 million people translates to slightly less than one person per square kilometer, making the Far East one of the most sparsely populated areas in the world. The Russian government continue discussing a range of re-population programmes, hoping to attract, in particular, Russian citizens there through a system of immigration similar to Canada.

Until 2000, the Russian Far East lacked officially-defined boundaries. A single term “Siberia and the Far East” often used to refer to Russia’s regions east of the Urals without drawing a clear distinction between “Siberia” and “the Far East”. That however, the Far East is generally considered as the easternmost territory of Russia, between Lake Baikal in Eastern Siberia and the Pacific Ocean.