The Russian government has “identified the development of the Far East as a national priority for the duration of the 21st century,” President Vladimir Putin said Thursday at the plenary session of the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok.
“The importance and correctness of this decision has been confirmed by life itself, including the challenges that we have faced recently, as well as objective trends…that are gaining strength in the global economy, where the main business connections, trade routes, and in general the entire vector of development is being reoriented more and more toward the East and the Global South,” Putin said.
Russia’s Far Eastern regions provide Russia with “direct access to these growing, promising markets and allow us to overcome the barriers that some Western elites are trying to impose on the whole world,” Putin said, citing the Far East as virgin ground for the development of complex new economic projects and the creation of entire new industries.
“In essence, the Far East today, without exaggeration, has become the most important factor in strengthening Russia’s position in the world, our flag-bearer in the new global economic reality. And the future of our entire country largely depends on how the Far East develops,” Putin said, pointing to the EEF’s role not only as a platform for the establishment of new business contacts, but the discussion of strategic development issues.
Delving into specifics on Russia’s work with its partners in the development of the Far East, Putin pointed to plans to build major new logistical centers and road infrastructure on Bolshoy Ussuriysky Island in Khabarovsk Territory – projects which were agreed during his visit to China this spring.
“I am confident that this project will give a good, powerful impetus for the development of Khabarovsk and the entire region, and ask the government to work out all the organizational and financial issues to start implementing the plan next year in 2025,” Putin said.
Today, Putin emphasized, China is the world’s largest economy by PPP GDP, and the gap between the People’s Republic and the United States is only widening year after year.
Speaking alongside Putin at the EEF’s plenary session, Chinese Vice Chairman Han Zheng touted Putin’s personal role along with President Xi in pushing Russian-Chinese relations toward a “new era.”
China has been the main trade partner and source of foreign investment in the Russian Far East for many years, with trade reaching the equivalent of $33.8 billion in 2023, jumping a whopping 54% in a single year, Han said. These figures represent about 14% of Russia and China’s total trade turnover of $240+ billion that year, up 26% from 2022).
“We are ready, together with the Russian side and guided by key agreements reached at the highest level, to accelerate interconnectedness, both in cross-border infrastructure and the harmonization of rules and standards, to increase the scale and quality of cooperation, to strengthen the foundation for the long-term sustainable development Sino-Russian relations in the new era, to contribute to ensuring prosperity and stability in the region and around the world,” Han said.
Cooperation Strong, Getting Stronger
Western powers’ foolhardy efforts “to contain China” and “fight” Russia have transformed neighborly, tense or even problematic relations between the two countries into warm and friendly ties, and the sky’s the limit as far as future cooperation is concerned, veteran China trade and economics expert and author and Asia-Pacific affairs consultant Thomas W. Pauken II told Sputnik, commenting on the implications of Russia’s economic pivot toward the east.
“By pushing against China, that forces them to make new friends or get better relations with countries that are more neutral, or willing to work with China. So that would be Russia. And one of the things that China offers is its ability to really do very strong infrastructure projects that have a deep impact on the economies of the countries they’re working with,” Pauken said, pointing, for example, to China’s “very strong” experience with railway infrastructure development.
“I recall when I visited Russia a few years ago that they were eager to develop the Russian railroad networks. For example, let’s say you have a railroad line that’s running from China going through Russia: going to Moscow and Saint Petersburg, perhaps [from] Vladivostok. Obviously it’s not easy to do because Russia has so much territory to cover. But if anyone can really help with the railway networks, that would be China because they are accustomed to dealing with impossible projects and under impossible weather and terrain conditions,” the analyst said, stressing that joint projects in this direction could foster “strong connectivity” between the two countries in the economic sense.
The same is true when it comes to the construction of new deep-water port facilities, Pauken said, noting that the Ukrainian conflict won’t last forever, and new Russian ports in the Far East can “be game-changers for the international trading system because those ports are not only going to be close to the Asian markets, but close to North America.”
In the Arctic too, Russia can help facilitate trade between Europe and China and other Asian nations via its Northern Sea Route, dramatically shortening logistics and supply chains for trade, Pauken said. Once the Ukraine crisis ends, European nations will have little choice but to restore their diplomatic and economic ties with Russia, the analyst believes.
BRICS+ Shaping Transition to a New Multipolar World Order
Speaking alongside Putin and Vice Premier Han at the EEF’s plenary session, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim highlighted Malaysia’s aspirations to join BRICS+, expressing “sincere gratitude” to Putin for the invitation to take part in the upcoming BRICS+ Summit in Kazan, Russia in October. Russia is an important trade partner to Malaysia with “enormous” potential, and “joining BRICS will allow us to strengthen these relations,” the prime minister said.
Putin, for his part, pointed out that the BRICS bloc accounts for about a third of the global economy, and that Russia is able to conduct about two-thirds of its trade with bloc members in national currencies.
“Our relations with BRICS are developing, and developing very successfully,” Putin said, pointing out that today, over 30 countries have expressed interest in cooperating with or joining the bloc, with all of the prospective new members “self-sufficient, with rapidly developing economies, their own distinctive culture, and very interesting governments. They will certainly make a positive contribution to the development of the organization,” Putin said.
Professor Azmi Hassan, a geostrategic analyst and senior fellow at the Nusantara Academy of Strategic Research in Malaysia, told Sputnik that as far as Kuala Lumpur is concerned, BRICS+ membership will mean a new voice for the Southeast Asian nation in international affairs.
Dr. Azmi pointed out that today, “the Global South does not have the power to participate” in the decision-making of major Western-led institutions like the International Monetary Fund or the World Bank, despite being impacted by the decisions these institutions make. Global South countries need a platform where a level playing field can be achieved, and BRICS+ is one such platform, according to the observer.
In Malaysia’s case, joining BRICS is “not so much about the economy,” Azmi said. “It is more that Malaysia wants a fair view that it can put forward, especially with the happenings of geopolitical things around the world,” he said, referring, for example, to the war in Gaza and the West’s “very biased” stance on the genocide taking place in the besieged Palestinian territory.
“The Global South nation, the small nation, the medium nation I think finds it very difficult to voice their opinion on the global stage. So BRICS, as we can see right now, provides [such] an opportunity. I see BRICS as the best opportunity for small nations like Malaysia to voice their opinion so that [in] any decision that affects us, or affects other smaller nations, we can participate in voicing our opinion,” Dr. Azmi said.
Besides that, the Eastern Economic Forum “gives Malaysia and Malaysians a true picture” on Russia, one clearer and more accurate than how the country and its development are presented in Western media.
“The main purpose of this particular forum is to attract especially the Asia-Pacific nations to invest or trade more with the Russian Far East,” Azmi said. “So I would say yes, what Mr. Putin said – the future is in Asia, or more specifically, the Asia Pacific,” the observer noted, pointing out that even leaving aside major individual economies like China or India, the ASEAN bloc countries alone have a population of nearly 700 million people and a massive market for enhanced cooperation with Russia.