Priorities set by Russia for APEC-2012

Transcription

1 Taipei Youth Activity Center, Taipei, March 28 th 2012 Priorities set by Russia for APEC-2012 Ambassador Gleb A. Ivashentsov, Deputy Head, Russian APEC Study Center Russia was not among the APEC s founding fathers. Why Russia joined the forum in 1998, eleven years after its birth? Firstly as Russia was, is and will be integral part of the Asia-Pacific region and APEC economies are her closest neighbors geographically. Secondly as it is the region to where the «centre of gravity» of the global political and economic life is rapidly moving.

2 mission of honour mission of great responsibility Russia s chairing APEC We also aim to maintain continuity by advancing in APEC agenda the initiatives of preceding chairs like: the concept of supply chains connectivity that was introduced in Singapore in 2009, the basis of growth strategy from Japan hosting APEC in 2010, sustainable growth and regulatory cooperation agenda by United States in We will at the same time work on promoting our own priorities on the full scale.

3 Four areas for the APEC-2012 priorities: 1) trade and investment liberalization, regional economic integration; 2) strengthening food security; 3) establishing reliable supply chains; and 4) intensive cooperation to foster innovative growth. Russia hosts APEC in a well-timed moment. Russia's joining the WTO will usher in a qualitatively new stage in its endeavor to integrate itself into the global economic system. The conclusion of negotiations on the WTO accession is a benefit not only for us but also a new perspective for all the APEC economies.

4 Russia is prepared to talk over free trade agreements with individual APEC countries while acting jointly with Kazakhstan and Belarus within the Customs Union. This kind of partnership, enhanced by the potential of the common economic space, could pave way for a new form of integration within APEC and lead to the expansion of the Asia- Pacific market to the whole of the Eurasian continent. APEC has an important role to play in improving regional and global food security. That includes the search for sustainable development in the agricultural sector, facilitation of investment and trade, establishing efficient and resilient food markets and market infrastructure.

5 The major challenges for choosing food security as a topic of priority for 2012 are the price volatility and the need for joint efforts on food supply support, including liberalization of investment and innovative agricultural development. We want to develop the supply chains agenda on following issues: food chains as mentioned in the priority on food security; transparency and visibility of supply chains, including the application of promising tracking technologies; improving information exchange related to supply chains; logistics and customs technologies capacity building etc.

6 Trans-Siberian and the Baikal-Amur Railways Russia is prepared to offer access to its transport corridors, which are the shortest route between Asia and Europe. Northern Sea Route

7 Among other Russian initiatives on supply chains there are offers on equipping transport hubs and corridors with systems of Russian satellite navigation GLONASS, cooperation in joint reaction to emergencies, anti-terrorist protection of transportation etc. APEC of the 21st century is seen as a dynamic and prosperous region built on the development and application of science, technology and innovation that improves the quality of life, while safeguarding the natural environment and achieving sustainable development. The 2011 APEC Leaders Declaration set the goal of promoting effective, nondiscriminatory, and market-driven innovation policy.

8 The ideas in this area could possibly include: developing hi-tech sectors and addressing barriers to investment; promoting technological progress among all APEC economies through networking among innovation centers, high-tech clusters, universities and research institutions; developing APEC-wide education networks Russia initiatives in STI: - creation of a comprehensive measurement system composed of indicators harmonized with international statistical standards for STI and used by national statistical offices of APEC economies and international organizations (OECD, UNESCO etc.). - innovative technological platforms should strengthen the networks among business, science and government stakeholders in key technological areas. - establishment of an Asia-Pacific Higher Education Common Space (APHECS)

9 Russia has distinct advantages energy sector 1 atomic energy 2 space exploration 3 The construction of the Vostochny space launching ground in the Amur Region will be a kind of an analogue to the world famous Baikonur. That biggest national project will have a great impact not only on the whole of the Russian Far East but on the adjacent countries as well.

10 There are good perspectives for cooperation with the neighbouring countries in the space exploration: construction of launching pads or designing space rocket engines South Korea servicing commercial space launches Japan, South Korea, India, Malaysia and Indonesia. Applied space technologies could help achieving APEC goals in many areas. creation of diversified navigation systems for ships, monitoring sustainable and green growth, combating illegal logging and poaching, fast locating and curbing oil pollution in the sea, forecast of emergencies etc. Discussions on practical appliance of space technologies could be very beneficial for many APEC working groups.

11 The Far Eastern Federal University of Vladivostok equipped with the most modern outfits will be a mighty center of scientific and technological cooperation with our APEC partners. The Vladivostok summit will provide the best opportunity to demonstrate to the members of the Asia-Pacific community the potentialities of the economic partnership with Russia and the perspectives that such partnership could offer for economic and political security in the region on a multi-polar basis.

12 Russia may effectively contribute to solving the region's energy, transport, scientific, technological and environmental problems, and our partners are well aware of that. Regional military and political stability, collective efforts to counter international terrorism, emergency response cooperation, or dialogue between civilizations are unimaginable without Russia. Russia offers to partners a positive and unifying agenda. She is neither looking for one-sided preferences nor striving to play up present contradictions. She affirms her role by readiness to cooperate with all countries which reciprocate by their willingness to cooperate.

13 The main drive will be provided by economic and social up-lift of the trans-baikal and Russian Far Eastern territories. Exploration of their natural resources would bring results comparable to the United States Westward movement in the end of 19-th century if not greater than those. In any case it would surely leave its impact on all civilization processes in Asia-Pacific region and beyond. Such a work demands enormous financial means which Russia may not be in a position to invest at present just on her own. That appeals to international cooperation which is to be based on Russian Law on the principle of mutual benefits.

14 The Soviet Union became a great power not because of massive oil and gas exports. Big-scale industrialization and the high level of education, science and technology were the ground of her might. Soviet hydrocarbon exports grew manifold just in 1970s when the country s economy had already become the world runner-up. innovatory development development of machinebuilding, including aircraft and precise instruments production ship-building advancement of science, education and services automobile and electronic industries

15 Development of technological basis predicts sound investments to infrastructure, research and design works, vocational training of personnel and in certain industries imports of advanced technologies and modern equipment not available in Russia which are needed for accelerated modernization of Russian economy. On the other side the creation of new work places on that basis would help to improve the demographic situation. That would also overcome the infrastructural disunity of the Eastern Siberia and Far Eastern regions and their relative economic isolation from the European part of the country which has appeared during last twenty years. That would strengthen the integration of the Eurasian economic space of Russia as a whole and therefore the national security of the Russian state, its integrity, political and economic independence.

16 The interests of the internal and external security of Russia are closely intertwined in the Far East as nowhere else. On one hand we are in the need of strengthening internal security to settle our external problems. On the other hand stable internal development demands the absence of external threats. India China South Korea strategic partners dialogue partnership Russia mutually beneficial relations ASEAN Japan Vietnam

17 33 Energy security is the most important for settling the APEC tasks. The world is facing a structural energy crisis today which is expanding. The crisis is caused by a sharp growth of energy consumption. 34

18 The deposits of traditional hydrocarbons, first of all, crude oil, are being exhausted. Some experts estimate remaining world oil reserves at About half of the original energy stock has already been pumped out billion tons 35 By 2020 Northeast Asia alone will consume half of the world energy. But there is also the other, political side of the issue. The competition for access to the energy resources has become the main driving force of the international politics. 36

19 The growing imports from other parts of the world, first of all from Middle East, practically put Northeast Asia on the Middle Eastern oil and gas needle. 37 The lack of hydrocarbons to fuel the traditional production of electric energy propelled the advancement of the nuclear energy in the region. In addition to Japan, China and South Korea such countries as Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia and Philippines have also started developing plans for construction of nuclear powerhouses. 38

20 The events of 2011 have brought serious new nuances and accents to the energy situation in Asia-Pacific. The Middle East states got entangled by social and other upheavals and there is no guarantees that the wave of instability would not sooner or later cover the main suppliers of hydrocarbons to Northeast Asia. Fukushima in her turn has sharply illuminated all challenges and threats connected with the development of nuclear energy. 39 Development of Asia-Pacific energy partnership would not only secure stable economic growth of the region. It would reduce the sharpness of confrontation of certain states or group of states in the energy markets. It is no secret that such confrontation of interests in the competition for resources serves a primary ground for most of territorial disputes in the Asia-Pacific space. 40

21 The security systems architecture presently existing in the Asia-Pacific region was formed in the time of Cold War in the format of US USSR confrontation. It neither reflects the new alignment of forces in the region, nor the tasks of combating global and regional threats, first of all non-military ones, and therefore needs a radical reconstruction. 41 Development of Asia-Pacific energy partnership could serve a weighty contribution to strengthening universal regional security. By the way European Union started with the formation of the European Coal and Steel Community in

22 In 2011 Honolulu Declaration APEC leaders put forward an ambitious goal - to reduce APEC's aggregate energy intensity by 45 percent by They set the task to work by joint efforts for softening the negative effects of climate change by developing ecologically clean, low-carbon and energy saving technologies. 43 Hydrocarbons, no doubt, will dominate the APEC energy consumption in years to come. Therefore it would be reasonable to take efforts to raise the share of the natural gas in the energy consumption as the ecologically cleanest fossil fuel. We call for broadening trans-border trade in natural gas, for improving data collection on natural gas and in support of formation of APEC Gas Forum. 44

23 There is no alternative to nuclear energy either as it is also ecology friendly. We need to take agreed joint efforts to work out additional security measures for nuclear power houses reactors, for responding to accidents, for protection and rehabilitation of territories and population in radiation emergencies etc. All that work has got special significance after Fukushima. Russia can in many ways help to settle the common task of regional energy security. 45 The export of Russian hydrocarbons to China, Japan and South Korea has been continuously increasing. The Government of Russia Energy strategy sets the task to increase the share of the Asia-Pacific region in Russia s exports: 46

24 Russia can offer a lot in the sphere of nuclear energy as well, starting from construction of nuclear power houses and ending with processing of used fuel in which my country has practically no competitors. My country actively cooperates in the peaceful use of nuclear energy in the region with China and Vietnam (including construction of nuclear powerhouses), as well as with Japan and South Korea (supplies of nuclear fuel, participation in the ITER project etc.) 47 Energy security issues include environment protection and prevention of climate change. The task of the day is to cut energy consumption and to raise energy efficiency. Along with other APEC economies Russia takes efforts to address both the region s economic and environmental challenges by speeding the transition toward a global lowcarbon economy in a way that enhances energy security and creates new sources of economic growth and employment. 48

25 Among other issues Russia has proposed to include in the summit's agenda finding new ways of reacting to natural disasters and other emergencies. The latter has acquired particular relevance given that the Asia-Pacific region is among the world s tsunami and quake-prone zones and is often hit by epidemics. 49 During her tenure as APEC chair, Russia also will focus on cooperation in the fight against terrorism and transnational crime. We believe that no one will question the importance of this aspect of APEC s activity. 50

26 Russia has no hidden agendas in the region. Our state does not aim to forge covert military alliances that would threaten anyone s security. On the contrary, we look forward to intensifying diversified multilateral economic and political cooperation with all the countries that show willingness for joint work with us. Cooperation for peace, stability and common prosperity is the key principle that determines the vector of our efforts in the Asia- Pacific dimension. 51 We hope that with such new approach to provide security in the Asia-Pacific region we will be able to get rid of the confrontational heritage of the Cold War and to prevent the appearance in the region of new separating lines which could threaten the prospects of integration of Asia-Pacific states for co-development. 52

27 History proved that long-term economic partnership and joint work on big-scale projects serves the best way to lessen tension and promote trust and confidence between states. 53 My country acquired that experience in her relations with West Europe in 1960s and 1970s. Today when the Asia-Pacific region has advanced to the world economic and political fore-scene, Russia strategically needs to raise the level of her political and economic interaction with the Asia- Pacific to the mark achieved earlier with Europe. 54

28 This year we will mark the twentieth anniversary of Russia-Taiwan relations of economic and cultural cooperation. The contacts between two economies have been successfully developing, widening and deepening. The trade has been growing every year. The made in Taiwan brands can be seen in many Russian homes on Acer computers, on home appliances, on cosmetics. 55 There is joint manufacturing of electric cars, as well as components and spares needed for them. Dozens of Taiwanese companies including world IT-market leaders have started their offices and branches in Russia. The areas of partnership include outer space physics and space technologies, electronics, information and telecommunications technologies. Taiwanese companies are among partners of Rosnano Russian State Corporation. Nanotechnologies are a very perspective sphere of joint work for Russian and Taiwanese scientists. 56

29 There is no doubt that development of Russian- Taiwanese informal contacts is mutually beneficial. There are many spheres of common interest. A lot can be done working together in the APEC framework. There are good prospects of joint work on innovations and high-tech. Russian experts will be interested in the Taiwanese experience of settling transportation problems of big cities, of highway construction, of smart grids etc. 57 Thank you for your attention! 58