Valdai Club Members Urge Investment In People

During the Thursday session From Ideas to Policy, members of the Valdai Club discussed measures that could help Russia become a strong, competitive power in the next quarter century. They arrived at the conclusion that Russia should invest more in human resources than in powerful modern production and technology.

During the Thursday session From Ideas to Policy, members of the Valdai Club discussed measures that could help Russia become a strong, competitive power in the next quarter century. They arrived at the conclusion that Russia should invest more in human resources than in powerful modern production and technology.

Honorary Chairman of the Presidium of the Council on Foreign and Defense Policy (CFDP), political scientist Sergei Karaganov said: "We must primarily invest in people, their education, health, active position and patriotism. For the first time in history Russian people should become the center of national strategy. They must become our national idea. The state will not survive without quality people – this is abundantly clear, especially in our modern world.”

He mentioned three priority measures – legal reform, rapid and dramatic education reform, especially secondary and higher education, and cultural upbringing.

Karaganov believes that if we invest in people, “we’ll be able to become a strong and competitive power in 10 to 20 years but no sooner.”

Former Minister of Finance and Chairman of the Committee of Civil Initiatives Alexei Kudrin spoke about the development of democracy in Russia, stressing that it requires a “strong society and effective social and political institutions.” Regrettably, Russia does not yet have them in full measure, he said.

"For me an important feature of democracy is that the opposition continuously returns to power, that power changes hands and there is competition. The government must be accountable to society and taxpayers must have a feeling of responsibility, but they should understand what they are paying for. At this point, the link between taxpayers, the government and society is very weak,” Kudrin summed up.

Speaking about ways to spur economic growth, he said Russia should reduce excessive defense spending and subsidies to lossmaking enterprises, and refocus the budget on “education, healthcare, culture and roads.”

Speaking at the session, writer Alexander Prokhanov discussed the “mobilization projects” of modern China and the United States as a means to achieve rapid and intensive development.

"No country can develop without a mobilization project when it lacks financial and human resources as well as the main resource – historical time. I believe the main idea of any mobilization project is a development concept and the inclusion of all social strata, the entire population, all ages and nationalities. Self-identification of Russian society is only possible in conditions of development,” he said.

RIA Novosti

Views expressed are of individual Members and Contributors, rather than the Club's, unless explicitly stated otherwise.