(MENAFN- Asia Times) Kim Jong Un's meeting with Vladimir Putin has eclipsed Russia's Eastern Economic Forum and related news, but there is a lot going on in eastern Russia that is of relevance to the development of a new, non-Western international order.
The eighth Eastern Economic Forum was held in Vladivostok from September 10 to 13. The forum's purpose is to promote investment and business development in the Russian Far East and to expand trade and other interaction with the Asia-Pacific region.
To this end, business executives, development experts and government representatives from India, China, Mongolia, ASEAN and other countries attended events related to trade, investment, infrastructure, energy, tourism, education and culture.
In his plenary-session address, President Putin noted that Russia's trade with Asia-Pacific countries had increased by 13.7% in 2022 and was up 18.3% in the first six months of 2023 – despite sanctions imposed by Japan, South Korea and Taiwan.
At a briefing during the forum, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova pointed out,“Foreign trade between the [Russian] Far Eastern regions and their foreign partners has grown by 14% in terms of freight and by 11% in monetary terms in the first eight months of 2023.
“Nearly 2.9 trillion rubles [US$30 billion at the current exchange rate],” she added,“have been invested in the PDAs [priority development areas] and the Free Port of Vladivostok, with foreign capital accounting for 340 billion rubles.”
China-Russia trade Xi Jinping did not attend the forum, but Chinese Vice-Premier Zhang Guoqing was there, telling Putin,“We have every reason to believe that the goal ... to bring bilateral trade [between China and Russia] to $200 billion will be achieved ahead of schedule this year,” according to TASS. In the eight months to August, China's total trade with Russia was up 32% year on year to $155 billion.
Looking to the long term, the Russian president said:“We will definitely not be scaling down the pace of development in the region, because the development of the Far East is an absolute priority for Russia, a direct priority for Russia as a whole for the entire 21st century.”
On the first day of the forum, China's Xuan Yuan Industrial Development Company (XY Group) reached an agreement with the Amur Region Investment Attraction Agency to build an industrial park.
XY Group plans to invest 10 billion rubles in facilities to produce a variety of goods including robots, 3D printers, drones, wind turbine blades, LNG (liquefied natural gas) and helium storage and transportation tanks, and other products. More than 400 jobs could be created.
Chief executive officer Xue Hailong, quoted by RT, said: