President Vladimir Putin has made the development of Russia’s immense Far East “a national priority for the 21st century.” A statement by Putin, placed prominently at the front of the website of the Eastern Economic Forum, which will hold its conference September 3-6 in Vladivostok, identifies the development of the Far East as an assertion of Russia’s national and international intent:
“We have identified the development of the Far East as a national priority for the entire 21st century. The importance and correctness of this decision has been confirmed by life itself, by the challenges we have faced recently, and, most importantly, by the real trends that are gaining momentum in the global economy, where the key business ties, trade routes, and in general, the entire vector of development are increasingly reorienting toward the East and the Global South.
“In essence, today the Far East has, without exaggeration, become the most important factor in strengthening Russia’s position in the world, and our standard-bearer in the new global economic reality. And to a great extent, the future of our entire country depends on how the Far East develops.”
