Russia will increasingly intensify development in
its Asia-Pacific portion since two thirds of the country lies in Asia, says
Valentina Matviyenko, Chairman of the Federation Council of the Russian
Federation.
Speaking at the opening of the 35th general assembly of the Organisation of
Asia-Pacific News Agencies (OANA) in Moscow, Russia's highest ranking female politician
said the far eastern portion of the country offered plenty of economic
potential, especially in mineral resources.
BERNAMA is one of the members of the 44-member OANA, an organisation founded in
1961 under the auspices of UNESCO.
Matviyenko said the region concerned offered plenty of opportunities for
infrastructural development in order to help reap its full economic potential.
At a special session with members of OANA's Executive Board members later,
Matviyenko, who was the former governor of St. Petersburg and the first woman
governor in Russian history, said the development of the Russian Far East would
not be confined to Russian companies but investments from the other
Asia-Pacific countries were also welcomed.
She said the country was also harmonising its laws with a view to facilitating
greater trade and investments with other countries.
Matviyenko also disclosed that 10 to 15 years ago, external trade with the Asia
Pacific was only 12 per cent.
Russia's trade with Asian as well as Pacific Rim countries has since risen to
23 per cent or US$96 billion at present.
However, Matviyenko said the potential for more trade with the countries of the
Asia-Pacific was enormous and Russia aimed to push this level to 50 per cent in
time to come.
The European Union is currently Russia's top trading partner, accounting for
half of its trade at US$456 billion in 2012.
Meanwhile, Sergey Mikhaylov, Director-General of ITAR-TASS, the hosts for this
year's general assembly, echoed Matviyenko's view that the Asia Pacific region
was becoming increasingly important to Russia.
-- BERNAMA
No comments:
Post a Comment