The annual Asian conference of the Valdai Club “Looking ahead: Russia and Asia in the next 20 years” will be held in Seoul on November 27-28. During the conference, organized in partnership with the Korea Institute for International Economic Policy, experts will discuss the most critical issues of regional security, first of all, the North Korean nuclear and missile programme, as well as prospects of economic and political development.
Over the past several decades, the Asia-Pacific region has become the centre of momentous geo-economic and geostrategic processes, which transform the behaviour of leading powers in the foreign policy sphere. Today, Asia’s development is determined by a set of longstanding trends: localization of production and consumption (the Made in Asia for Asia model), entry barriers for products from other markets, growing international political competition, aggravation of the US-China relations, lingering security issues, first of all, those related to North Korea’s missile and nuclear programmes.
Not a single Asian country is unfriendly, let alone hostile, to Russia. This opens up new possibilities for Russia to enhance its political presence and economic ties with countries of the region as well as makes it a valuable partner in regional affairs.
The conference participants will discuss the issues of economic interaction in the region, including the impact of cooperation in Asia-Pacific on the development of the Russian Far East. One of the sessions will be dedicated to Asia’s energy markets. The conference’s key topic is how Russia can most efficiently play the role of the guarantor of stability and development in Asia-Pacific.
A special Valdai Club report, featuring three forecast scenarios for Asia-Pacific in the next 20 years, will be presented during the conference.
The conference will be attended by more than thirty members of the expert community, officials and politicians from Australia, China, India, Japan, Singapore, the United States and other countries of the region. Russia will be represented by leading experts on Asia-Pacific, including Deputy Foreign Minister Igor Morgulov, as well as Deputy Minister of Telecom and Mass Communications Alexei Volin.
Information for the media. To attend, please fill out the accreditation form.
On Monday, November 27, a news conference with conference participants and officials with be held at the event venue.
