President Putin outlined Russia’s plans for the expansion of economic ties with the new global economic center in Asia, calling the Russian Far East the country’s “standard-bearer.”
The Russian government has “identified the development of the Far East as a national priority for the duration of the 21st century,” President Vladimir Putin said Thursday at the plenary session of the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok.Russia’s Far Eastern regions provide Russia with “direct access to these growing, promising markets and allow us to overcome the barriers that some Western elites are trying to impose on the whole world,” Putin said, citing the Far East as virgin ground for the development of complex new economic projects and the creation of entire new industries.Delving into specifics on Russia’s work with its partners in the development of the Far East, Putin pointed to plans to build major new logistical centers and road infrastructure on Bolshoy Ussuriysky Island in Khabarovsk Territory – projects which were agreed during his visit to China this spring.“I am confident that this project will give a good, powerful impetus for the development of Khabarovsk and the entire region, and ask the government to work out all the organizational and financial issues to start implementing the plan next year in 2025,” Putin said.Today, Putin emphasized, China is the world’s largest economy by PPP GDP, and the gap between the People’s Republic and the United States is only widening year after year.Speaking alongside Putin at the EEF’s plenary session, Chinese Vice Chairman Han Zheng touted Putin’s personal role along with President Xi in pushing Russian-Chinese relations toward a “new era.”China has been the main trade partner and source of foreign investment in the Russian Far East for many years, with trade reaching the equivalent of $33.
