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Address by H.E.Mr.Gleb A.Ivashentsov Ambassador of the Russian Federation at
the 10th International Symposium on Siberia and the Russian Far
East of Korean-Siberian center, PaiChai University (Seoul, November, 2nd, 2007) |
Dear
friends,
I would like to thank the Korean-Siberian center, PaiChai University for the invitation to address the 10th International Symposium on the development of Siberia and the Russian Far East.
It is an important subject. Important for us in Russia and for our foreign partners as well.
The reason
is simple. Not only has Russia now made a full turn-around after years of
industrial decline, it has become one of the world�s ten biggest economies. The country�s GNP has been increasing
rapidly for five years straight. During the eight months in 2007 the growth was
7,7%. There is more to that: Russia has also become one of the world�s three
largest gold and currency reserves holders with savings totaling over $425
billion.
***
The economic
consolidation of Russia allows us today to take up the long-pending task of the
integrated development of the Eastern Siberia and the Russian Far East the area
of which is 7 mln square km or 41 percent of the territory of Russia. I mean
the more efficient integration of that vast area into Russia�s economy as well
as into international markets, its development intended to create favorable
business environment and decent conditions for life and work of the people. The
needful guidelines have been given by President V.Putin and corresponding
programs approved by the Government of Russia.
For instance, the Federal Special Programme for the development of the Far East and trans-Baikal areas in the period up to 2013 adopted by the Government of Russia on August 2nd, 2007 provides financial allocations equal to more than US$ 22 billion for development of infrastructure which includes reconstruction of 22 airports, 13 sea ports, bridges, highways and power plants. About US$ 4,0 billion of that sum will be allotted to the city of Vladivostok which will house the APEC summit of 2012.
It is a
great task but its realization will bring an even greater output. We believe
that potentially the uplift of the Russian Asia�s vast territories and
utilization of its natural and other resources could bring results which may be
comparable or even greater than those of the development of the American West.
The process will inevitably exert major influence on all civilizational
processes in the Asia-Pacific region and beyond. It will serve as a locomotive
not that for the Russian, but for the world economy.
***
In no other
region are our internal and external interests so interconnected as in the
Northeast Asia. For it is necessary to guarantee external security for the
economic development of Siberia and the Far East. By Russia�s view such
guarantees could be best provided not by forming certain new �holy alliances�
based on ideological solidarity or pushing forward ultimatums which herd anyone
into an impasse but by developing positive relations with her neighbours in the
region based on the �security through partnership and mutual development�
principle.
In that we
have already achieved a lot. The year of Russia in China held in 2006 raised to
a new stage the enhancement of our strategic partnership with China. The
current 2007 which has become the Year of China in Russia will witness at least
four summit meetings of the two countries� leaders.
Russia�s
dialogue with Japan is developing continuously. To the DPRK Russia is linked
with the Treaty of Friendship, Goodneighbourliness and Cooperation.
The
partnership with the Republic of Korea which is an integral component of the
general strategy of Russia at the Asia Pacific direction bears an independent
value to my country. A poor developing country just forty years back the South
Korea turned into an industrial and trade power of a world scale which is
striving to establish itself as a strong foreign policy actor of its own right.
Similarity of the two countries�
approaches to major international issues presents a substantial basis for our interaction. Both our countries consistently support collective development
of measures to confront modern threats and challenges for peaceful and
democratic solution of global issues based on international law in the
framework of he UN. They both oppose unilateral diktat, double standards and
unjustified use of force.
Russia and
the Republic of Korea have common interest in eliminating the war threat in the
Northeast Asia. The main source of that threat is the more than half-century
old military confrontation on the Korean Peninsula presently aggravated by the
nuclear issue. My country has been actively participating in the Six-Party
talks on the nuclear issue of the Korean Peninsula hoping that its settlement
would become a kind of a starting point in turning the Northeast Asia into a
region of peace, security and cooperation.
Russia is
prepared to make her contribution to the inter-Korean normalization as well. We
constantly stand in favour of building bridges between Seoul and Pyongyang.
Russia has always been in favour of the moves by two Korean states aimed at
peaceful unification through their own efforts. Therefore Moscow welcomed the
Second Inter-Korean summit.
We believe
that the growing process of the inter-Korean rapprochement will provide a new
political impetus to the work on settlement of the nuclear issue of Korea as
well as to the normalization of the DPRK�s relations with the key regional
powers.
We hope
that it will also facilitate the practical implementation of the large-scale
tripartite partnership projects of Russia and North and South Korea, such as
the international railway corridor �Europe-Korea� and the programs of creating
in the Northeast Asia an integrated electric power grid as well as a net of
pipelines connected with the regions of the Eastern Siberia and the Russian Far
East.
***
The
Russian-Korean relationship is steadily approaching today the level of
comprehensive and trustful partnership. There is practically no such sphere of
human activities in which our two countries do not cooperate. They widely
interact in the UN and other international forums. In addition to cooperation
on land and sea, cooperation in space is now developing. In 2008 the first
Korean cosmonaut trained in Russia will be launched into space by a Russian
spaceship.
The Russian-Korean trade volume has
been increasing steadily. In 2006 it approached the mark of USD 10 billion.
This is surely much less than Korean trade with some other countries, but it is
the growth rate not the numbers themselves that counts. The trade volume
between our countries has grown 3,5 fold since 2000. We believe that
realization of joint investment projects particularly in energy, as well as in
petrochemical and automobile industries will lead to a much bigger growth in
bilateral trade. It is in the interests of both Russia and the Republic of
Korea that more such projects are started especially in the regions of Siberia
and the Russian Far East.
The
Russian-Korean Joint Action plan was adopted during President Putin�s working visit
to the Republic of Korea in November 2005 which covered all the directions of
bilateral political, economic, scientific, technological and cultural
cooperation. The availability of such a plan facilitates the thorough
monitoring of bilateral accords and joint projects.
A special
attention in the Action plan is given to the dialogue on energy which is aimed
at determining the guidelines of joint work in the energy sector and
strengthening the regional cooperation in energy in the Northeast Asia.
The �Sakhalin
Energy� company developing the natural gas deposits on Sakhalin and the �Kogas�
concluded an agreement on supply to the ROK annually of� 1,5 million tons of liquefied natural gas
from Sakhalin for the period of 20 years starting from January 2008.
In addition
to that Russia is planning to supply to the Republic of Korea from 2012-2013
about 10 billion cubic meters of natural gas per year by a pipeline. It is
planned to sign in future a long-term contract for supplies of Russian gas to
the ROK for the period of 30 years.
A
Russian-Korean consortium with the participation of the leading Russian
petroleum company, �Rosneft�, has been founded for gas and oil exploration on
the Kamchatka continental shelf.
The recent
visit of President V.A.Shtyrov of the Saha (Yakutia) Republic to the Republic
of Korea outlined new opportunities for cooperation in extracting gas, oil,
coal and uranium ore.
It is however unreasonable to view
Russia only as a supplier of raw materials to the Korean market. Russia does
export to Korea a good list of high-tech goods as well. For example about forty
percent of civilian helicopters now in use in the Republic of Korea were made
in Russia. Russian companies provide an important share of the ROK�s needs in
fuel for nuclear power houses. There is a weighty number of commercial
agreements under negotiation on joint science-research and experimental
projects, including those for space exploration or aimed at production of
high-tech products in the Republic of Korea under Russian licenses.
***
Dear friends,
I hope my address has given you a
brief information of the work we are undertaking for the development of Eastern
Siberia and the Russian Far East.
President V.Putin of Russia while
speaking on the Russian-Korean relations once stressed that they are strong not
just by the similarities of our views on international developments but by the
number of initiatives which are jointly worked out by Russians and Koreans. I
see in this seminar these very people working for such initiatives. I wish you
all success.