The Eastern Economic Forum has released the expanded business programme for the event on its official website. The EEF will take place on 2–4 September in Vladivostok. The main theme of the Forum this year is ‘New Opportunities for the Far East in a Changed World’.
“The president has declared the development of the Far East a national priority for the entire 21st century. In fulfilling the president’s decision, the government has created a comprehensive, dynamically developing investment support system in the Far East. Advanced special economic zones, the free port of Vladivostok, e-visas, the Far Eastern hectare, mortgages for young families – these and many other tools that have been designed for the development of the Far East have established a new investment space and created conditions for the implementation of hundreds of projects that previously only existed as ideas. The Eastern Economic Forum has become one of the key tools for supporting the Far East. Its main objective is to attract investors and get feedback from business. The more than 2,500 new projects and RUB 1.9 trillion in investments that have already made are indisputable proof that the Far East has become a comfortable and safe territory for doing business,” said Yury Trutnev, Russian Deputy Prime Minister, Plenipotentiary of the Russian President in the Far Eastern Federal District, and Chairman of the EEF Organizing Committee.
“This will be the sixth Eastern Economic Forum. Per tradition, an extensive business programme will be prepared that focused on the most pressing issues of the global and regional economy. I am certain that the Forum will once again affirm its status as the leading communication platform in the Asia-Pacific region. This year we expect an impressive range of guests, including leaders of states, who will take part in a mixed format – both online and offline,” said Anton Kobyakov, Advisor to the Russian President and Executive Secretary of the EEF Organizing Committee.
The EEF 2021 business programme is divided into four thematic pillars: ‘The New Economy: What Changes and What Stays the Same’, ‘The Far East: New Challenges and Opportunities’, ‘Our Shared Responsibility in a Changing World’, and ‘Youth EEF’. The key event of the EEF will be the plenary session scheduled for 3 September.
The ‘The New Economy: What Changes and What Stays the Same’ pillar of the business programme will include sessions on the development of carbon-free energy, the international distribution of labour, new media, and other important issues concerning the economy.
The session ‘Partnership Against the Pandemic: Anti-Crisis Strategies in Medicine’ is devoted to international cooperation. To respond to the challenges of our times, national health systems must be able to withstand emergency crises and countries need to engage in sustainable partnerships to develop effective strategies to combat them. The most important area for such cooperation remains the economic space of the Asia-Pacific region, which, starting with China, was the first to be hit by coronavirus. The session will discuss what the criteria should be for sustainable healthcare that is capable of ensuring the principles of national security.
One of Russia’s top priorities in the international arena is to strengthen and ensure the sustainable development of relations with countries in the Asia-Pacific region and North-East Asia. Russia and its regional neighbours have faced unprecedented challenges in recent years. The range of problems caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has only added to the growing international uncertainty, geopolitical instability, and serious structural and volatile imbalances in the system of international economic relations. The session ‘Business Cooperation: A Driver of Sustainable Socioeconomic Development in the APR’ focuses on ways to develop new modalities and formats of cooperation, reconfigure value chains, and bolster the connectivity of regional economies.
The Far East has some of the largest hydrocarbon reserves and is in close proximity to leading petrochemical markets. Given the existing effective instruments of state support, the region will turn into a platform for major projects, which will serve as centres for the formation of industrial clusters, the development of new ones, including green technologies, and attracting foreign investment. The development of oil and gas refining in the Far East and the creation of petrochemical clusters will be the primary focus of the session ‘Zero-Carbon Energy: The Future of Combustible Fuels’.
The pillar ‘The Far East: New Challenges and Opportunities’ consists of 28 sessions that cover a wide range of issues concerning the development of the Far East, including attracting investment to the region, export opportunities, and the development of the agricultural industry.
One of the pillar’s sessions is dedicated to the subsoil resources of the Far East. Today, the Far Eastern Federal District holds a dominant position in the mining and reserves of diamonds, coal, zinc, copper, lead, tungsten, gold, silver, tin, and rare earth metals. Highly profitable, well-studied mineral deposits are being put into commercial operation, however the Far Eastern Federal District has virtually no facilities for the deep processing of raw materials using high-tech equipment at mining sites, which prevents the macro-region from fully unleashing its mineral and raw material potential. Experts will consider mechanisms to support enterprises that handle the deep processing of raw materials, a solution to the problem of technological backwardness, and the generation of domestic demand for raw materials.
The session ‘The New Stars of the Far East: The Evolution of Major Projects’ will focus on ways to enhance the investment appeal of the Far Eastern region. Accelerator projects for regional development are helping to create supporting transport, energy, and social infrastructure, which makes them centres of gravity for economic resources and human capital.
The pillar ‘Our Shared Responsibility in a Changing World’ focuses on the protection of the environment, nature, and climate.
The session ‘Medicine for Export: Opportunities on Asia-Pacific Markets’ will include discussions on how to develop medical tourism in Russia. The Far Eastern Federal District’s strategic proximity to countries of the Asia-Pacific region could become an advantage in terms of developing medical tourism, provided that it boosts the transfer of modern medical technologies to Russia, increases the number of clinics, and creates high-quality competitive medical infrastructure.
Robots could fill 20 million jobs by 2030. The three industries in which robots have replaced humans the most are transportation, storage, and manufacturing. Generation Z is most at risk of being displaced due to automation. New opportunities and the hidden threats of robotization will be discussed during the session ‘Automation Technologies: Robots vs. People’.
In 2021, Russia and ASEAN are celebrating the 30th anniversary of their relations and the 25th anniversary of their full-fledged dialogue partnership. During the EEF Youth Day, international experts and young activists will meet to discuss prospects for coordinating youth policy between Russia and ASEAN in various sectors.
The international events to be held at the EEF include a discussion of the Greater Eurasian Partnership as an effective integration mechanism as well as the APEC Conference on Cooperation in Higher Education in Asia-Pacific Region and an international conference dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Russia and Mongolia.
In addition, the EEF 2021 will include the following business dialogues: Russia–ASEAN, Russia–Korea, Russia–Japan, Russia–China, Russia–India, and Russia–Europe.
The EEF 2021 will be held in compliance with all necessary safety measures and recommendations of the Russian Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Human Wellbeing and the World Health Organization to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
Detailed information about the Forum programme is available on the official EEF website: forumvostok.ru.
