RIAC and Russian APEC Study Center hold the First Asian-Pacific Forum

APEC member states belong to the most dynamically developing region of the world. It is taking the lead in global economy in terms of many macroeconomic indicators. Over the last decade it has grown by more than 70%. 21 economies of APEC account for 50% of global GDP, 47% of world trade turnover and about 40% of the world population. The focus of economic activity is shifting to Asian-Pacific region, which is already the most important factor of the global economic stability. Concerted actions of APEC member-states and success in tackling the tasks they are facing may contribute to faster recovery from global recession as well as to sustainable development.

APEC member states belong to the most dynamically developing region of the world. It is taking the lead in global economy in terms of many macroeconomic indicators. Over the last decade it has grown by more than 70%. 21 economies of APEC account for 50% of global GDP, 47% of world trade turnover and about 40% of the world population. The focus of economic activity is shifting to Asian-Pacific region, which is already the most important factor of the global economic stability. Concerted actions of APEC member-states and success in tackling the tasks they are facing may contribute to faster recovery from global recession as well as to sustainable development.

In 2012 Russia will take over the APEC presidency. Asian-Pacific dimension is acquiring foremost importance in Russia’s foreign policy. Russia is the only APEC member-state which does not belong to WTO. It has always contained our integration initiatives in the region. The completion of negotiations on Russia’s accession to WTO and its future APEC presidency give Moscow a great opportunity to review its role and prospects in Asian-Pacific region.  

Russian International Affairs Council and Russian APEC Study Center in cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry for Economic Development of Russia held the First Asian-Pacific Forum with the view to filling the agenda of Russia’s APEC presidency with practical initiatives. The Forum hosted the leading Russian and foreign pundits and representatives of relevant ministries and agencies.

The two-day - from November 28 to 29 - Forum was inaugurated by the RIAC President and RRC Head Mr. Igor Ivanov. In his address to the participants of the Forum he said that the liberalization of trade and investments, the enhancement of food security, the development of transportation capabilities and facilitation of efficient interaction between science, business and the state in promotion of advanced technologies are gaining greater importance both for Russia and its Asian neighbors.

Alexey Borodavkin, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia, pointed out that Russia’s APEC presidency will allow it to show its competitive advantage, with the emphasis to be laid on those industries (segments of economy) where Russia can effectively compete on regional markets, primarily on energy, transport, peaceful use of nuclear energy and space exploration.

At the same time we should have no illusions about the power and influence (weight) APEC enjoys in the world. “Apart from being the driving force of global economic growth, - said Mr. Borodavkin – APEC is faced with the whole lot of potential threats, such as territorial disputes, WMD proliferation, terrorism, climate change, natural disasters and pandemics as well as imminent economic and social risks resulting from another wave of global economic crisis.”

         Andrey Slepnev, Deputy Minister of Economic Development of Russia, said that Russia is prepared to actively assist the countries of the region in developing the projects aimed at welfare rise and bringing more stability to the countries of Asia and the Pacific. The Ministry has the Agreement on Free Trade zone with ASEAN countries in the pipeline.

John Beyrle, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States in Russia, pledged to provide help in carrying out major cooperation projects under Russia’s presidency. The United States, which presided in APEC in 2011, considers the strengthening of cooperation with Asian and Pacific countries its foreign policy priority.

Significant economic growth of the region will be hard to achieve without creating a solid architecture of regional security.  

Political weight of Asian-Pacific countries is growing and should be used for dealing with problems of regional security. Alexander Dynkin, Director of the Institute of World Economy and International Relations of the Russian Academy of Science, said that in order to successfully accomplish this task it is necessary to address three issues: to accommodate three Cold War era instruments – Treaty on Security between USA and Japan, USA and South Korea, and Treaty on Mutual Assistance between China and North Korea – to modern realities; secondly, to increase trust in military and security spheres between China, USA, Japan and Russia; thirdly, to deal with new security challenges – North Korean missile and nuclear program, provision of maritime security and cooperation in preventing natural and manmade disasters.

Mikhail Titarenko, Director of the Institute of the Far East of the Russian Academy of Science, pointed out the necessity to create a solid material, technical, spiritual and ideological basis for Russia’s integration in Asian-Pacific region.

Powerful human potential relying on quality R&D projects should play a key role in tackling the tasks and meeting the challenges faced by the region and APEC. Anatoly Torkunov, Rector of MGIMO University, noted that universities of Asian-Pacific countries get higher ratings and have started to oust US universities from top positions on rating lists.   

Scientific potential of Asian-Pacific countries has the capability of laying a solid foundation for their constructive collaboration. Vladimir Miklushevsky, Rector of Far Eastern Federal University, and Chris Tremevan urged the participants to the Forum to pay due attention to the coordination of efforts of the AP countries in the field of scientific research and education of specialists in Asian-Pacific region affairs.

The work of the Forum was conducted in 6 panels on most relevant issues of AP region – Energy Cooperation (chaired by Gleb Ivashentsov, deputy Director of Russian APEC Study Center); Traditional Security Challenges (chaired by Alexander Panov, Rector of Diplomatic Academy of MFA of Russia); Transport, Infrastructure and Regional Economic Integration (chaired by Petr Baklanov, Director of Pacific Institute of Geography of the Far Eastern branch of the Russian Academy of Science); Investment Climate (chaired by Pavel Kadochnikov, Executive Director of Russian APEC Study Center); Food Security and the problem of bio-resources of the Pacific Ocean (chaired by Mikhail Savostyanov, Head of Food Security project of Russian APEC Study Center); Education, Innovations and Social Capital (chaired by Vladimir Miklushevsky, Rector of Far Eastern Federal University); Institutional principles of building international community in North East Asia (chaired by Jongchul Ha, Professor of Washington University).

The First Asian-Pacific Forum contributed a lot to setting clear priorities for Russia’s APEC presidency in 2012 and formulating key issues to be considered by APEC working bodies as well as to combining the efforts of international community in discussing the strategy for developing Russia’s relations with Asian-Pacific region countries.