The Fifth Eastern Economic Forum set a new record for the number of guests and signed agreements. Over the course of three days, WEF-2019 participants concluded more than 270 investment agreements worth 3.4 trillion rubles, and a total of 8.5 thousand people from 65 countries visited the site. This was announced at the final press conference by Deputy Prime Minister and Plenipotentiary Envoy of the President of Russia in the Far Eastern Federal District, Yuri Trutnev.
According to Trutnev, the most numerous delegations arrived from Japan, China, India and South Korea.
In total, the forum was attended by representatives of more than 440 world companies and heads of state of the Asia-Pacific region: Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, Mongolian President Khaltmaagiin Battulga and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
One of the most discussed events was the Russian-Indian negotiations with the participation of Putin and Modi. Moscow and Delhi announced new partnership plans. It is expected that by 2025 the trade turnover of the two states will have to grow almost three times - from $ 11 billion to $ 30 billion. At the same time, mutual investments are planned to be increased to $ 15 billion.
The leaders of the two countries spoke about the possible joint construction of ships for the transportation of liquefied gas, oil products and other goods. Moreover, in the near future the parties are ready to start the first round of negotiations on the free trade zone (FTA) of India with the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU).
In total, on the fields of the WEF — 2019, Russia concluded 50 investment agreements with India for $ 5 billion.
The forum also actively discussed business relations between Russia and Japan. According to Shinzo Abe, over the past three years, countries have developed more than 200 joint projects in trade, energy, and the development of small and medium-sized businesses. Back in 2017, the states created a joint investment fund in the amount of $ 1 billion. Now, of this amount, about $ 250 million has been invested in common projects. This was explained to RT by the head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund Kirill Dmitriev.
“One of the key investments is the online healthcare leader Doctis. Today, this company is actively growing in Russia and has entered into agreements with leading clinics and insurance agencies of the country. With Japan, there are plans to invest in a methanol plant in Volgograd. We also intend to invest in technologies for processing gases into proteins, therefore, we consider the technological area with Japan one of the most promising, ”said Dmitriev.
Money day
The most important for business representatives was the second day of the forum. It was on September 5 that the largest deals were signed at the WEF.
The most ambitious investment was the project of the plant for the production of methanol and ammonia in the territory of the advanced development (TOR) "Petrochemical". It is planned to attract more than 200 billion rubles for the construction of the enterprise.
In addition, Russian and Chinese companies signed an agreement on 45 billion rubles for the construction of a livestock complex for the production of cow's milk in the Primorsky Territory. Among the most significant was the project for 57.2 billion rubles to create a tourist cluster "Asian Village" in the Kamchatka ASEZ.
Significant transactions include making the final decision on investments in Arctic LNG-2. According to Russian Minister of Energy Alexander Novak, the ongoing project for the production of liquefied natural gas is the largest in the world with a total investment of $ 21 billion.
In addition to the Russian Novatek, companies from France, China and Japan are participating in the transaction. At the same time, the volume of Japanese investment in the project is about $ 5 billion. This was announced on the sidelines of the forum by Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono.
Plenary session
The central event of the WEF — 2019 was a plenary meeting with the participation of Vladimir Putin and invited heads of state. During his speech, the Russian leader said that since 2015, thanks to support measures, investors have invested 612 billion rubles in the economy of the Far East, and the region’s industry has grown by 23%.
- Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks at a plenary meeting of the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok
- RIA News
- © Alexey Danichev
However, the president did not limit himself to statements about regional successes.
Unexpectedly for the guests and participants of the meeting, Putin suggested launching a preferential mortgage at 2% per annum for young families in the Far East. As expected, the program will begin to operate by the end of the year and will have to attract more qualified personnel to the region.
The second surprise for those present at the meeting was the words of Narendra Modi. The Indian Prime Minister announced the provision of a loan of $ 1 billion for the development of the Far East.
“India will provide a credit line in the amount of $ 1 billion. This is a completely unprecedented measure when we provide such a special credit line to another country,” Modi emphasized.
The discussion attracted the attention of the discussion on Russian-Japanese relations. Shinzo Abe again raised the issue of concluding a peace treaty between the countries and called on Vladimir Putin to do everything possible to achieve this goal.
“Our efforts are steadily creating the image of new cooperation relations between Japan and Russia. Then the next step is the conclusion of a peace treaty, which is our historical mission, ”Abe said.
Even last year’s meeting on the sidelines of the WEF, Vladimir Putin suggested that Shinzo Abe conclude a peace treaty between the two countries. Then the president’s statement became one of the most striking events of the entire forum. After that, the parties held a series of negotiations, but so far have not been able to reach consensus.