The 11th Asian Conference of the Valdai Club, titled “Russia and Asia after the Pandemic”, took place on December 9 and was open to the media. The participants of the third session discussed the continuing integration of Russia with Asia.
Russia’s turn to the East began in a period of relatively stable development of the world and Asian economy. Its most important tasks always included integration of Russia and the Russian Far East with the system of economic relations in the Asia-Pacific, creation of opportunities to expand international cooperation, trade, and investment on Russia’s Pacific coast, presence of Russia in Asia’s international politics as a neutral participant which has friendly relations with all countries of the region.
In Moscow, Russia’s role in Asia is now traditionally assessed as a positive alternative to the hard choice between China and the United States, an independent source of energy and goods for the Asian markets, whose production is related to Russia’s objective advantages in terms of resources.
The coronavirus pandemic and the general slowdown of the world economy, the growth of regionalisation and localisation will inevitably impact the continuing integration of Russia with Asia. What should Russia and its partners in the Asia-Pacific focus on in the present conditions? Have new opportunities emerged after the pandemic or do limitations dominate? How relevant is the need in Russia as a player in regional politics? These are the questions seen by the organizers as the central ones for this session.
Speakers:
- Taisuke Abiru, Senior Research Fellow, Sasakawa Peace Foundation;
- Han Hongyul, Professor of the Department of Economics, Hanyang University;
- Anastasia Likhacheva, Director of the Centre for Comprehensive European and International Studies (CCEIS);
- Alexander Lomanov, Deputy Director for Scientific Work, Primakov Institute of World Economy and International Relations (IMEMO) RAS;
- Anton Tsvetov, Deputy Director, Department of Multilateral Economic Cooperation and Special Projects, Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation;
- Wang Wen, Professor, Executive Dean of the Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies Renmin University of China.
Moderator: