"Impulse for economic growth": what the participants of the WEF-2022 discussed

Delegates from 68 countries became participants in the Eastern Economic Forum in 2022, and in the first three days of the business platform’s operation, 260 agreements worth almost 3.3 trillion rubles were signed on its margins.

This was announced on Thursday, September 8, by Deputy Prime Minister and Presidential Plenipotentiary Representative in the Far Eastern Federal District Yuri Trutnev.

According to him, more than 7,000 people took part in the forum.

Thus, the event has become the largest in terms of the number of guests since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic.

“First of all, the 7th Eastern Economic Forum, like the previous one, is a step forward in the development of the Far East.

A step not only in terms of the number of guests or the number and volume of agreements... The point is that decisions were made, people worked in 90 areas, and these decisions were reported to the President.

A significant part of these decisions was supported, there is an opportunity to move forward faster, ”Trutnev noted.

In the spotlight

The main event of the forum has traditionally become a plenary session with the participation of Vladimir Putin.

As the head of state noted during his speech, if back in 2021 the WEF was largely devoted to the consequences of COVID-19 and the restoration of the global economy, this time the participants of the event were already discussing other challenges that threaten the whole world.

“I mean the sanctions fever of the West, its undisguised, aggressive attempts to impose models of behavior on other countries, deprive them of their sovereignty and subordinate them to their will.

Strictly speaking, there is nothing unusual in this, this is a policy that has been pursued by the collective West for decades,” the Russian leader said.

According to him, irreversible changes are taking place in the global economy and international relations today.

Thus, the states of the Asia-Pacific region are becoming new points of economic growth and attraction of capital, while Western countries are trying to maintain the global order that is beneficial to them and are ready to sacrifice the interests of their citizens for this purpose, the president emphasized.

“The achieved level of industrial development in Europe, the quality of life of people, socio-economic stability - all this is thrown into the furnace of the sanctions furnace, spent on orders from Washington in the name of the notorious Euro-Atlantic unity, and in fact is sacrificed for the sake of maintaining the dictatorship of the United States in world affairs ", Putin explained.

• Russian President Vladimir Putin during his speech at the plenary session of the Eastern Economic Forum 2022 at the Far Eastern Federal University (FEFU) on Russky Island.

• © Stanislav Krasilnikov / TASS photo host agency

Meanwhile, Russia is coping with the economic aggression of the West, the head of state added.

Although the situation remains tense in a number of industries and regions, the government, together with business, continues to find ways to solve problems.

At the same time, the situation in the foreign exchange and financial markets has stabilized, unemployment remains at a historic low - below 4%, and inflation after the spring jump to almost 18% began to decline and is now close to 14%, the president said.

“I think that according to the results of the year (inflation. -

) we will have somewhere around 12%, and, according to many of our experts, in the first quarter - by the second quarter of next year we will most likely reach the targets.

Someone says that 5-6%, and someone says that the level of 4% will be reached, ”Putin said.

One of the key reasons for the spring acceleration of inflation in Russia was the excessively emotional reaction of citizens to Western sanctions.

However, the panic in the consumer market has already disappeared, and the rate of price growth has slowed down.

Anatoly Popov, Deputy Chairman of the Board of Sberbank, spoke about this in an interview with RT on the sidelines of the WEF.

“Moreover, in the summer, food prices, for example, fell due to the entry of Russian suppliers into the market.

At the end of the year, we also expect that inflation will not exceed 12%.

In many ways, the decrease in the indicator is facilitated by the policy of the Central Bank, which is actively reducing the key rate, which makes loans for businesses and the population more profitable,” Popov said.

"Far Easterners will appreciate"

At the plenary session, Vladimir Putin also announced a number of economic initiatives for the development of the Far Eastern Federal District.

In particular, the president announced the extension of the Far Eastern mortgage program at 2% per annum for another six years.

“This year, we have expanded the Far Eastern mortgage program: now not only young Far Eastern residents, but also doctors and teachers, regardless of age, can get it.

Let me remind you that the program is designed until 2024.

And given the demand and effectiveness — and this program is working effectively — I propose to extend it until at least 2030.

I hope that the Far East will also appreciate it,” Putin said.

As Vitaly Mutko, head of DOM.RF, later noted, since the launch of the program in 2019, more than 46,000 families have taken out loans at a reduced rate.

In turn, the extension of the initiative will allow an additional 20-25 thousand loans to be issued annually and after 2024.

“The decision creates clear and understandable rules for the industry for years to come: citizens do not have to rush to have time to rent housing before a certain date, and for developers this creates a stable demand for their projects in the future.

They will be able to plan in advance the development of large-scale complex projects,” Mutko said on the sidelines of the WEF.

• In the photo: Sergey Oreshkin, Semyon Kosterin, Vyacheslav Buchnev

• © Nikolai Gernet / Roscongress photo bank

Long-term state support in general is designed to increase the investment attractiveness of the region, as well as reduce labor migration from the Far East.

This opinion was shared with RT at the forum site by the president of the All-Russian public organization of small and medium-sized businesses "Support of Russia" Alexander Kalinin.

“We believe that it is possible to attract investments to the region more intensively with the help of support for small and medium-sized businesses.

If a citizen has his own business that generates income, then he is unlikely to want to leave for the capital or other large cities.

Now investors are increasingly interested in the tourism sector, in which the region has great potential.

Its development will give an impetus to the growth of the economy of the Far East and will lead to an increase in employment,” Kalinin is sure.

The situation in the tourism sector was the subject of a separate discussion during the work of the WEF.

At a meeting of the Presidium of the State Council on the development of the industry, Vladimir Putin urged, first of all, to think about the interests of citizens and make travel in Russia accessible to all people, regardless of income level.

“We must do everything necessary to ensure that people with different incomes have access to the widest opportunities for traveling, improving their health, in order to receive positive emotions, so that the quality of life changes for the better,” Putin stressed.

At the same time, the President proposed not to mirror the actions of Western countries that ban Russians from entering.

According to Vladimir Putin, tourists and entrepreneurs from unfriendly states should be allowed to visit Russia.

“Are we interested in young people coming and studying with us?

Yes.

What is it to close them?

We are interested in business coming here and working with us, despite all the restrictions.

And there are a lot of businessmen who love Russia, trust it and want to work here.

Yes, welcome, please, let them come and work,” the head of state said.

"We will not deliver anything"

According to forum participants interviewed by RT, issues of the development of the energy sector were also widely discussed on the sidelines of the site.

In particular, during his speech, Vladimir Putin raised the issue of a possible introduction by the West of a ceiling on prices for Russian energy resources.

According to the president, such proposals have no prospects, and Moscow may respond harshly, which will lead to a rapid rise in the cost of raw materials on world markets.

“We will not supply gas, nor oil, nor coal, nor fuel oil - we will not supply anything ... Those who impose something on us are not in the position today to dictate their will to us.

Let them come to their senses,” Vladimir Putin said.

In an attempt to limit the cost of Russian raw materials, Western countries want to deprive Moscow of energy revenues.

At the same time, a number of states, in particular European ones, are trying to replace oil and gas from the Russian Federation by increasing the generation of energy from renewable sources.

However, the price of such an energy transition may be unbearable for the EU economy.

Pavel Snikkars, Deputy Head of the Ministry of Energy, shared this opinion with RT at the forum.

“Rejection of hydrocarbons will cost Europe dearly.

In my opinion, this is not entirely effective, but there is too much politics and not enough economics,” the Deputy Minister emphasized.

Meanwhile, Russia is already actively redirecting hydrocarbon exports to Asia.

So, on the sidelines of the forum, an agreement was even signed on the start of Russian gas supplies to China for rubles and yuan.

“As for our resources, you know: the need is so great in world markets that we have no problems with implementation, especially with such a large economy (like China. -

).

In fact, this is the largest economy in the world today in terms of purchasing power parity… Demands are growing, agreements are stable… So we don’t have any problems,” Vladimir Putin stressed.

At the same time, the persistence of high energy prices against the background of a decrease in the supply of Russian raw materials to the West has a positive effect on the Russian economy, Anatoly Popov believes.

According to him, such dynamics leads to a more relaxed slowdown in GDP.

“Indeed, now in a number of industries there is a slowdown associated with a break in supply chains.

However, we are optimistic about the situation and expect that by the end of 2022, Russia's GDP will decrease by only 3-4%.

Gradually, business will establish new supply routes, the system will balance, and the Russian economy will return to growth in the second half of 2023,” Popov concluded.