Recently, Russia is attaching great importance to the development of the Far Eastern Region which has rich resources and is of strategic importance in the building of a powerful and modernized state. For this, it is now taking positive nationwide measures to spur the development of the region.

Eastern Economic Forum that was held since 2015 in Vladivostok, Russia, with the aim of accelerating the development of the economy in the Far East and of expanding the international cooperation with the Asia-Pacific Region, is propelling the development of the region with the participation of numerous enterprises both at home and abroad.

Russian government could not but cancel the 2020 Eastern Economic Forum due to the global health crisis. However, it sponsored with success the 6th Eastern Economic Forum from September 2 to 4 this year with the theme: New Possibilities for the Far Eastern Region in the Dynamic World.

Russian President Putin said in the plenary meeting of the 6th Eastern Economic Forum that the development of the Far Eastern Region is related not only to the prospect of 10 years but to the one of 100 years of Russia and that the Far Eastern Region of Russia is an inseparable part of the Asia-Pacific Region, the mainspring of the global economy.

Stressed in the current economic forum are the issues of enhancing the living standards of the residents in all the federal subjects belonging to the Far Eastern Federal Region above that of the economically developed regions by the year 2024 and taking relevant measures such as provision of medical services, expansion and streamlining of communication networks, offering of high-income jobs and training of talented men, etc. All such measures are aimed at providing people with modern and convenient living conditions.

Also discussed in the forum are issues of giving preferential treatment to the enterprises investing in the Far Eastern Region together with developing the zone of pacesetter and Vladivostok free port zone. Hundreds of large-scale investment contracts involving trillions of Rbl were signed in the forum.

High on the agenda was also the issue of building Vladivostok into a city with a population of one million as befits the capital of the Far East.

The Russian leadership is paying nationwide attention to promoting the development of the Far Eastern Region.

On September 2, at a video conference on socio-economic development of the Far Eastern Federal Region, President Putin mentioned the issue of developing the fields of transport and public health, emphasizing that the most important issue in developing the Far Eastern Region is to increase the number of inhabitants and improve their livelihoods.

From July 26 to 29, Prime Minister Mishustin took stock of the situation in various economic fields including public health, fishing and plane manufacturing, while visiting Kuril Islands, Sakhalin Oblast, Khabarovsk Kraj and Irkutsk Oblast.

Having formulated audacious plans to develop the Far Eastern Region, Russian government is propelling various socio-economic measures to implement those plans.

Russia has worked out a 2035 national plan for the development of the Far Eastern Region. And it is concentrating its efforts in developing railways, air traffic and marine transport, in building infrastructure by developing the zone of pacesetter, in improving environment for investment and introducing advanced technology. It is also implementing “Far Eastern Region Hectare Project” and “Far Eastern Region Real Estate Loan Project”-the measures to increase population in the Far Eastern area and to improve the livelihoods of the inhabitants.

Particularly, it is planning to modernize the trans-Siberian Railway and Baikal-Amur Railway, which have a great significance in developing the economy of the Far Eastern Region so as to increase the traffic capacities by 1.5 times and increase the volume of cargo transport up to 210 million tons by the year 2025.

Despite the bad situation due to the spread of COVID-19, the measures by the Russian government to rapidly develop the economy of the Far Eastern Region prove to be effective, and this will bear due fruit in the future.