What can the Second Economic Forum bring to Russia and the world, and why is Western business tired of American sanctions?
These days, the island of Russian, which is a few kilometers from Vladivostok, looks like a disturbed hive.
Ahead is a landmark event for which, of course, they are preparing with all their might. Second Economic Forum ...
In Vladivostok, now only conversations that on this subject. And convinced optimists believe that in September, in the days of the forum, the lotus will certainly bloom. No, this is not a failure of the biological clock: a beautiful flower is the emblem of the forum, and the lotus bloom is a symbol of development, reliability, trust, honesty and, as with a smile, experts add, large investments in the Russian Far East.
He is not that distant ...
No one has long been hiding the main thing: recently, from the provincial, god-forgotten regions, the Far East has been turning into a territory of growth. The Far Eastern programs have been operating since 2013, and the forum is gradually turning into a new platform for the meeting of the global business elite. In general, if you believe the results of last year’s forum, our Far Eastern territories are not so far-away for investors ...
The state guarantees preferences to banks and companies. The president and the government have repeatedly made it clear that the development of Russian suburbs is a long-term project, it is serious and for a long time. There are a lot of projects, ranging from the development of individual sectors of the economy and ending with the opportunities for compatriots to receive their “Far Eastern” hectare, an interest-free mortgage. As for investors, we turn to the facts.
“The volume of agreements signed at the Eastern Economic Forum amounted to 1,3 trillion rubles,” said Russian Deputy Prime Minister Yury Trutnev at a briefing, summing up the results of the first WEF in 2015. - We did not expect such a figure, to be honest. Signed about 80 agreements.
But expert assessments of the international participants of the forum. Van Yilin, chairman of the board of directors of the Chinese oil and gas corporation CNPC, is confident that Russia's economic strategy will have a positive effect on cooperation between the Russian Federation and the APR countries in the energy sector.
Another thing is that the scope of cooperation and development in the Far East would be greater if, for example, European companies took a more active part in forum events. Yes, many arrived at their own peril and risk - the government of the countries did not lift the sanctions restrictions on the Russian Federation. For business, this is a real torture ...
In the end, many people understand: business interests, the development of new territories are much more important than political decisions. In addition, it has been proven in practice: friendship with Russia has a high “conversion”, and the WEF is turning into a platform of world business interests. In general, this year, according to passions, the situation is similar: there is a desire, but politicians restrain the possibility of sanctions against the Russian Federation ...
"Fantastic event"
Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Japanese Association for Trade with Russia and the Newly Independent States (ROTOBO), President of Kawasaki Heavy Industries Shigeru Murayama believes that in the context of globalization, for special economic development it is necessary to create special economic zones and follow world standards.
And the founder and director of Hejun Consulting Group, Van Minfu, is confident that Vladivostok can become a world-class regional free trade center - “Singapore, Shanghai of the 21st Century”. At the same time, analysts and experts gave the forum the following assessment: honest, open, without a fig in a pocket, without hints of lobbying from anyone's side.
As the well-known Vladivostok portal vladnews.ru told, the Eastern Economic Forum and Vladivostok itself received positive feedback from foreign guests of the event. Thus, a guest from Australia - Executive Director of Tigers' Realm Coal (the largest Australian investor in Russia) Perry Craig called the WEF “a fantastic event” in which entrepreneurs received “full access” to the Russian government and were able to personally see for themselves the high level of government business support. Brazilian participant Roberto Alvarez said that Vladivostok is a beautiful city with magnificent landscapes, beautiful landscape and great potential.
Costs of sanctions: “hostages” - investors and business
By the way, we have already said above - the topic of the forum’s lost opportunities does not lie in the plane of the Russian organizers. Everyone who wanted (and this is over 4 thousands of participants), came to the First WEF. It would really be more participants and contracts, but because of the sanctions the business is tied hand and foot ... In the framework of the First WEF, according to ITAR-TASS, the topic of sanctions was touched upon. According to Tadashi Maeda, managing director of the Japanese Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC), sanctions are an obstacle to the development of full-fledged cooperation.
“Japanese business operating in the United States has become a“ hostage ”of US sanctions against Russia, he said.
There is another expert opinion. Within the framework of the Sakhalin-1 and Sakhalin-2 projects, the well-known American oil company is doing everything to find loopholes in US law and continue business cooperation in the Far East, bypassing the US sanctions imposed on our country. Will other companies follow the example of American businessmen? The question is not rhetorical, but, alas, a practical one - no one is going to cover the losses that a business in Europe suffers, and you cannot cover the budget with sanctions ...
Clearly another question arises. Development of the Far Eastern oil shelf is a profitable project. The most important thing is transparent in terms of both oil reserves and business. In the West, there are still shy but confident voices that the demand for the same American shale oil, which looks like an alternative, is falling dramatically.
It would not happen that “cheap oil” is a soap bubble that will burst sooner or later ... And all because no one has canceled the laws of the economy: obligations made on lending to companies producing shale oil are resold. It is obvious that they will talk about this on the forum and on its sidelines, and it is likely that we will witness unexpected decisions that can be called without a stretch historical... The wait is not long.