The Valdai Discussion Club will take part in the Eastern Economic Forum for the fifth time. On September 2, at 10:00 AM Vladivostok time (GMT+10), a session of the Club, titled “Global Challenges and Opportunities for the Far East and the Arctic”, took place.
During all previous years, the focus of the Valdai Club’s attention at the EEF was related to Russia’s pivot to the East. Today, this pivot can be considered a fait accompli and we can confidently state that Russia is present in the Asian region. That is why the Club’s session at the EEF is centred not on Russia’s presence in Asia as such, but on the quality of this presence.
The pandemic year has significantly adjusted the external conditions for the development of the Far East and the Arctic region and their integration into the world economy. There were both positive factors — an increase in continental trade and interconnectedness in Eurasia, and negative ones — new non-tariff restrictions, barriers to international mobility. All these factors must be taken into account in the discussion of practical issues affecting regional development. The Club intends to make an analytical “update” of the state of the economy and politics in the Far East and Asia through the prism of Russian interests and capabilities.
The main goal of the session was sto find an answer to the question: what new external factors need to be taken into account at the present stage of development of the Far East and the Arctic region? The guests of the Valdai session are high-ranking politicians, representatives of big business, and intellectuals specialising in political and economic processes in the Asia-Pacific region.
Andrei Bystritsky, Chairman of the Board of the Foundation for Development and Support of the Valdai Discussion Club, made an opening speech at the beginning of the session.
Speakers:
- Alexei Chekunkov, Minister for the Development of the Russian Far East and Arctic (online)
- Glenn Diesen, professor at the University of Southeast Norway
- Atsushi Sunami, President of the Sasakawa Peace Foundation
- Kevin Rudd, Prime Minister of Australia (2007-2010, 2013), President of the Asia Society Policy Institute
- Vyacheslav Ruksha, Deputy Director of ROSATOM; Director for the Northern Sea Route (NSR) Directorate of ROSATOM
- Yuri Trutnev, Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation, Presidential Plenipotentiary Envoy to the Far Eastern Federal District (online)
Moderator:
- Timofei Bordachev, Programme Director of the Valdai Discussion Club; Academic Supervisor of the Centre for Comprehensive European and International Studies, National Research University Higher School of Economics.
Working languages: Russian, English.