On the second day of his visit to the Russian Far East, President Putin presented some of the ideas that had been discussed the day before with regard to Far East development. More than 7,000 people are attending the event, including representatives from 17 “unfriendly” nations. China, Indonesia, Japan, Vietnam, the Republic of Korea, India, and Myanmar sent the “largest delegations ever” to the EEF this year. “Taking into account the accumulated experience,” Putin told the delegates to the EEF, “we are launching a business support system unprecedented in scale and scope. Starting January 1, 2027, a single preferential regime will be applied throughout the Far East and the Arctic. Under it, support instruments will not be linked to a specific special region or advanced economic zone, but will be tailored specifically for different types of activities throughout the Far Eastern region.”
“In other words,” he continued, “there will be a menu of privileges available for investment projects in any part of the Far East and the Arctic, including the full list of available mechanisms, such as reduced social security contributions, tax and customs benefits, assistance with connecting projects to infrastructure facilities, the construction of industrial facilities, and so on.” He noted the increase of investment in the region over the last 11 years and the doubling of housing construction over the last six years. Over 300 master plan objects in the region have been commissioned, he said.
While there will be increased investment and production in the extraction industries, the emphasis will be on technological upgrading in all the areas of the economy and a stress on creating high-tech centers in the region. “We will continue to develop mineral extraction in the east and north of the country, including oil, gas, coal, gold, and rare earth metals—using, of course, clean technologies, as is already being done at many of our enterprises,” Putin said.
“We also need to increase the capacity of high-tech industries, and this is a key focus. I am referring to shipbuilding and aircraft manufacturing, as I have already mentioned, as well as robotics, electronics, mechanical engineering, and the space industry, which is steadily advancing here—we have built the Vostochny Cosmodrome, and we need skilled personnel, whom we will train locally. Pharmaceuticals also fall into this category. Such traditionally important regional sectors as forestry, agriculture, marine resource harvesting, and aquaculture should also be given renewed impetus for growth.”
