The President held a meeting on the development of the Far Eastern and Arctic regions.
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President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Good afternoon, colleagues.
As is customary, during the Eastern Economic Forum we hold a dedicated working meeting to discuss current and long-term issues that are of particular importance for the development of our Far Eastern and Arctic regions, strengthening their economies, transport and energy systems, infrastructure and the social sphere, and improving people’s quality of life.
Today, the Far East and the Arctic are demonstrating strong momentum and positive change, with development rates in a number of key areas exceeding nationwide indicators. I must say that this is probably our main achievement, which we have accomplished together. From the outset, when we began this work, many of us who are here today talked specifically about this – about the need to ensure high growth rates that would prevent further depopulation of the region. We must not simply preserve these vast territories as part of Russia, but develop and strengthen them, turning them into a reliable, forward-looking driver of Russia’s development as a whole. Overall, we are succeeding – not everything is working out, but we are making progress.
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To a large extent, this is the result of a consistent strategy and solutions, unique for our country, to support investment and business activity.
At the same time, it is obvious that we need to continue unlocking the potential of the Far East and the Arctic and making effective use of their competitive advantages, including their proximity to global centres of economic growth. This work must be comprehensive and forward-looking, taking into account current and long-term trends.
Just recently, the Government completed work on a new Development Strategy for the Far Eastern Federal District through 2036. At a recent operational meeting with members of the Security Council, we also discussed the Development Strategy for the Russian Arctic and mechanisms for its implementation.
In effect, these two documents constitute a common action plan and a set of interconnected tasks to be addressed jointly by federal authorities, regions, municipalities, businesses and public associations – naturally, with the most active involvement of residents of these regions and due regard for their needs.
The practical implementation of these strategies means launching specific projects and programmes, drafting and adopting legislation, and creating a modern investment and regulatory environment.
A number of such initiatives were announced at the previous Eastern Economic Forum. For example, the transition from local support measures operating in individual areas to a single preferential regime covering the Russian Far East and the Arctic. Today, we will discuss its main contours and some of the details.
It was also announced that a special legal regime would be introduced in all constituent entities of the Far Eastern Federal District, allowing advanced technologies to be introduced more quickly and without unnecessary barriers in the economy and social sphere. We will discuss this issue separately as well.
Let me stress that, in effect, we are talking about a new development model for the Far East and the Arctic, under which special, highly favorable conditions for enterprises, organisations ands bold legal innovations are becoming the norm and a defining feature of the region’s business and investment climate.
We must preserve this forward-looking approach, aimed at the dynamic development of the Far Eastern and Arctic regions. But everything we agreed on earlier must also be strictly implemented.
Therefore, today we will not only consider some of the new ideas planned for presentation at this year’s Eastern Economic Forum, but also take a close look at previously issued instructions and the level and extent to which they have been implemented – or not implemented, in which case we need to discuss the reasons why there has been little progress. We will discuss what has been accomplished in full and where additional efforts are needed.
Let’s begin.
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