Discussion of a new stage of Russian-Chinese cooperation at the AmurExpo Forum
Academic Supervisor of MA Programme "International Business in the APR" Liudmila Veselova took part in the AmurExpo Forum
On 26-28th May Blagoveshchensk hosted the main event in the business life of the Amur region - the Russian-Chinese economic forum "AmurExpo". It is important to note that this year the Forum has become a visiting platform for the Eastern Economic Forum (EEF), and the Ministry for the Development of the Russian Far East, the Russian Far East and Arctic development Corporation, and the Roscongress Foundation took part in the formation of the business program. This year, the Forum attracted even more attention due to the opening of borders with China, as well as due to the new stage in Russian-Chinese cooperation: more than 2,600 people registered for the business program of the Forum, including government officials and experts from China, Pakistan, India.
An important event was the visiting session “The Far East and China: International Territories of Advanced Development – Prospects and Opportunities for Cooperation”, it was within the framework of this session that the opening of the customs and logistics terminal “Kanikurgan” took place, which should become an important element of infrastructure. A year ago, an international road bridge across the Amur River between Blagoveshchensk and Heihe was opened, and the Kanikurgan Terminal, located next to the Amurskaya the territory of advanced development should help speed up the arrival and processing of goods from China. "Kanikurgan" terminal has a number of advantages, including increased throughput, which enhances the competitiveness of the products of the Amur Region and the Far East and creates a new transport corridor to the Asia-Pacific countries. The Forum repeatedly discussed other promising infrastructure projects that are planned to be implemented in the future, namely the Jalinda-Mohe railway bridge and the international advanced development area. It is noteworthy that all events touched upon the acute problems of Russian business, which is currently in a difficult situation. Thus, within the framework of the Forum, were held a round table "Import substitution and parallel imports in the new economic conditions" and a panel discussion "Legal Aspects of Doing Business with Chinese Economic Entities". The round table discussed the prospects for developing trade with Asian countries, with a number of experts drawing attention to increased trade not only with China, but also with Indonesia and Pakistan. As part of the panel discussion, experts spoke about the most common legal mistakes that Russian entrepreneurs face when starting to work with China.
The key event of the Forum became the plenary session "Russian-Chinese economic cooperation at a new stage: a bridge to the future", in which Academic Supervisor of the MA Programmes "International Business in the Asia-Pacific Region" and "Business and Politics in Modern Asia" Liudmila Veselova took part as a speaker and moderator . The plenary session was opened by Advisor to the President of the Russian Federation Oreshkin M.S., and among the honorary speakers the Minister of the Russian Federation for the Development of the Far East and the Arctic Chekunkov A.O., the Chairman of the Committee of the State Duma of the Russian Federation for the Development of the Far East and the Arctic Kharitonov N.M., Consul General of the People's Republic of China in Khabarovsk Jiang Xiaoyang, Governor of the Amur Region Orlov V.A. and the governor of the Kamchatka Territory Solodov V.V.
The participants discussed how to effectively use the huge potential that the unique geographical location of the Amur region provides and what are the obstacles to the successful operation of Russian and Chinese businesses. Of course, in order to implement all future projects and expand cooperation with Asian partners, talented personnel are needed. This is what Veselova Liudmila emphasized in her speech, noting that at present, close Russian-Chinese cooperation is needed not only in the field of economy, but also in education and science, which can become another “bridge” for strengthening partnership relations between the two countries. Special attention was paid to the environmental agenda, because most regions of the Far East are places with a unique ecosystem. For example, now there are a number of projects aimed not only at preserving, but also at developing the ecosystem of Kamchatka. It is planned to build and modernize fish processing plants to provide products to more regions. Increasing attention is paid to the ESG agenda, so during the session were shown the main plans for the development of the large-scale project Park "Three Volcanoes", which sets a new standard for a diversified tourist and recreational cluster.