What needs to be done to attract investments to Russia? Which industries are most promising for investment? What is the main problem of the Far East region in terms of attracting investments? These and other questions were discussed by participants at the session “The investment climate in the Far East and new opportunities”, which took place within the framework of EEF 2024.
Investment growth of 60% by 2030
On behalf of Vladimir Putin, the government must achieve a 60% increase in investment in the Russian economy by 2030. This pace will ensure the development of the supply-side economy, competitiveness and technological sovereignty of the Russian economy.
– Russia ended the past year on a positive note, with a record increase in investment. By the end of 2023, the Far Eastern Federal District recorded a twenty percent increase in investment. This is the highest figure among all federal districts. Investment projects are being implemented in the Far Eastern Federal District both within the district itself and throughout Russia, said Deputy Minister of Economic Development Murat Kerefov.
He noted that the authorities assign a key role to private investment in achieving the national objective; it must become the main driver of growth.
“First of all, it is necessary to create basic conditions for working with investors, when all the infrastructure has been created locally and this infrastructure should be uniform throughout the country,” stressed Murat Kerefov.
Director General of the Agency for Strategic Initiatives Svetlana Chupsheva recalled that this year eight Far Eastern regions entered the top 15 regions of the country in terms of investment climate, and the Jewish Autonomous Okrug and Buryatia became leaders in the country’s growth dynamics. integral index.
“The growth rate of the overall score in the investment climate rating for the Far Eastern Federal District subjects over 5 years was more than 1.6 times faster than the Russian average,” said Svetlana Chupsheva. She noted that the state remains the main investor in the Far East, but there is also an increase in private investment, including in the tourism sector.
The head of the ASI also singled out the Sakhalin region. According to her, it has interesting solutions in the areas of health, education and social protection, which could be made federal. These include the fight against poverty, proactive provision of services in the social sphere, the practice of accessible medicine, mobile medical equipment and a smart first-aid post, a high-tech software and hardware complex for diagnostic and preventive examinations of citizens.
In turn, the Governor of the Sakhalin Region, Valery Limarenko, spoke about the increase in investments in the security sector.
“We are now creating maritime security systems that can see 30 kilometers away what is happening, where the submarines are, where the torpedoes are, where the enemy divers are or other danger factors,” he shared.
“Introducing career guidance from school!”
Discussion participants cited staff shortages as one of the main obstacles to investment growth.
– The main problem is the lack of qualified personnel. Not only for Russian Railways and the Eastern Industrial Estate. This problem is also a problem for the entire Russian economy. To solve it, it is necessary to improve the system of higher and secondary vocational education, including updating the vocational training system, expanding the scope of continuing education and introducing applied project-based learning mechanisms. This work should begin at school, with the introduction of a vocational guidance system,” said Alexander Shokhin, President of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs. He also noted that in parallel, it is necessary to forecast the economy’s need for personnel. And in turn, personnel forecasting should be linked to the country’s demographic, economic and technological development.
“It is important for companies, whose surveys are being conducted by the government, to take into account not only the current situation, but also the future technological development of the country, labour market trends, when new professions appear and old ones disappear,” said Alexander Shokhin.
Another task, according to the head of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, is to increase labor productivity and reduce labor costs.
– It is very important to use the labour reserve. Judging by the number of self-employed people, which is more than 10 million people, we see that for them it is in most cases an additional job that allows them to achieve an acceptable level of wages. It would be right if people could earn money at their main job and not as couriers. It is important to remove legislative restrictions on this type of employment; we are talking about the possibility of internal part-time work, lifting restrictions on overtime work,” Shokhin explained.
“We need a balance with migrants”
Another issue is attracting immigrants to the labour market. On the one hand, the need for labour is great, which means that it is necessary to attract migrant workers, but on the other hand, the negative socio-political aspects are obvious, Shokhin said. In his opinion, a balance must be found.
Shokhin also drew attention to the need to build a new system for training engineering personnel, including the implementation of joint network programs with corporate universities, as well as the creation of joint scientific and educational organizations by enterprises and universities.
The head of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs called cooperation with the countries of the Asia-Pacific region and access to their markets an important competitive advantage of the Far East.
“Significant investments are needed in the Russian export infrastructure, with the involvement of development institutions, RECs and others,” Shokhin said.
– Turning to the East is the spirit of the times. And in the short term, if we organize ourselves correctly, we will have very good opportunities,” agreed Alexander Ivlev, co-chairman of the executive committee of the Advisory Council on Foreign Investment in Russia.
Business Russia President Alexey Repik noted that attracting private investment is a priority in achieving national development goals.
“In addition to subsidizing interest rates and introducing new elements of co-financing, the absence of administrative barriers, convenience and openness of interaction between the government and business in the implementation of investment projects are also noteworthy,” said Alexey Repik.
“A new middle class has emerged in Russia”
According to Sberbank Senior Vice President Taras Skvortsov, the driving force behind growth in the Far East was logistics, processing and construction, which was facilitated by the introduction of Far Eastern mortgages. He explained that if throughout Russia, due to rising prices, people can now buy a smaller apartment than 3-4 years ago, in the Far East the situation is better: the volume of construction and the growth of wages grew simultaneously.
“This once again demonstrates the attractiveness of the region for investment,” said Taras Skvortsov.
He also said that in recent years, a real revolution in consumer demand has been taking place in Russia. This is due to the increase in the income of the population. The expert noted that from 2021 to 2023, salaries will increase by an average of 50%.
– It is clear that about 30 percent was eaten up by inflation. But the remaining 20 percent created the very demand that ultimately resulted in inflation, and with which the Central Bank is fighting today. But there is something more important: during the same period, almost 10 percent of the Russian population doubled their income on average. If we talk about this average indicator, three years ago a person received a salary of 40 thousand rubles a month, now he receives 150 thousand rubles. And there are almost 10 percent of such people who, moreover, appeared in Russia. Of those who are officially employed, 6 million people. And in fact, this is a new middle class that creates a huge demand for goods and services,” said Taras Skvortsov.
