At a meeting with representatives from the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs the President emphasised the need to develop processing industries in Russia.
Industry’s accent on raw materials increases its dependence on foreign markets and on the fluctuations of world prices. In connection with this, Vladimir Putin emphasised that one of the most important economic priorities involves diversifying Russian industry.
Russian industry must make the transition from simply exploiting natural resources to fully processing these resources, which will serve as the basis for the development of an innovation economy. The capacities to engage in coordinated actions to ensure a more judicious use of Russia’s natural resources and to reorient the economy to put the accent on innovative development exist today.
Developing processing industries will not only allow Russia to increasingly benefit from the exploitation of its truly enormous mineral reserves, but will also create more jobs, including in promising professions, the head of state pointed out.