By Tehzeeb Hussain Bercha
The 9th Eastern Economic Forum (EEF), held in Vladivostok, Russia, impressed its participants with its unprecedented scale. The Russian Far Eastern Federal University venue was visited by over six thousand people from seventy-six countries, including key states in the Asia-Pacific region. The business component of the forum was rich: the heads of 650 Russian and 44 global companies concluded important agreements that will significantly change the economic landscape of East Asia and will facilitate an unprecedented influx of investment.
“Vladivostok” means a city that owns the East. In the 19th century, it was founded as a Russian outpost on the Pacific Ocean, but after the dramatic events of the collapse of the USSR and the deep crisis that plunged the country in the 1990s, the Far East found itself on the periphery of the Center’s attention. With the rise to power of Vladimir Putin, the situation has changed dramatically. Moscow is increasingly turning towards Asia, realizing what opportunities are being missed due to a previously undiversified foreign policy. Over the past few years, the Russian Federation, and this can be said with complete confidence, has recognized itself as a Euro-Pacific power.
Unlike Europe, Russians can count on much more constructive relations with the countries of East Asia. Russia has no enemies in the Asia-Pacific region, even among the states that maintain friendly relations with the United States. Thus, at the plenary session of the Eastern Economic Forum, the Russian president was accompanied by none other than Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim. Kuala Lumpur and Washington have historically had the closest ties with the United States, cooperating not only in the economic but also in the military sphere. However, no one in the Pacific Ocean wants to ruin interaction with the Kremlin because of the demands of the White House. Mr. Ibrahim’s speech was quite frank and extremely friendly to Russia.
Vladimir Putin’s speech was devoted to the issues of linking the development of the Russian Far East with the development of all countries in the Asia-Pacific region. Having been too immersed in European affairs, the Russian Federation has long failed to extract the benefits that its geographic location provides – access to the ocean, a common land border with China, Mongolia, North Korea, possession of the most important logistics corridors linking the West and the East. Now the issues of accelerated growth of economic indicators in the Far East are a priority, and the speech of the Russian president is clear evidence of this.
The figures announced at the forum demonstrate Russia’s amazing openness to Asian investors and tourists. Progress in relations between Moscow and its partners in the Indo-Pacific region is growing by leaps and bounds – and this is hardly an exaggeration. Suffice it to say that in January-August of this year alone, money transfers from individuals from Russia to India increased fortyfold compared to 2023, and the amounts – a hundred (!) times. Despite the obstacles put in place by the Americans and Europeans, a sovereign banking and payment infrastructure is being formed.
The restrictions for Russian citizens do not have a fatal impact. The number of trips to Vietnam has almost tripled, to Cambodia – doubled, to the People’s Republic of China – by 81%, to Japan – by 64% (despite the US desire to involve Tokyo in an open confrontation with Moscow), to Thailand – by 58%. For comparison: after the start of the hot phase of the Ukrainian conflict, tourist trips to the European Union from the Russian Federation fell by 90-95%. Russians are discovering Asia, which plays into the hands of small and medium businesses in the Asia-Pacific region.
The Russian President Putin’s representative in the Far Eastern Federal District, Yuri Trutnev, told journalists that 258 agreements worth a record 5.4 trillion rubles ($61 billion) were signed during the Eastern Economic Forum. “We have never had such a figure before,” the official noted. It is also important that representatives of states that are dependent on Washington for one reason or another did not remain indifferent to the EEF. Of the total number of participating countries, sixteen are so-called unfriendly countries: those that have imposed sanctions against Russia. Vladimir Putin’s principled approach is to clearly distinguish between the counterproductive policies of the authorities, who are subject to US influence, and the sincere interest of society and business in Russian culture and the commodity market.