Greeting address of the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation to the Republic of Korea, H.E. Mr. Konstantin Vnukov, at the Second Expert Forum of the “Global Political and Economic Center” (GPEC)

Dear organizers and participants of the Second Expert Forum “Global political and economic center” (GPEC)!

Ladies and gentlemen!

Dear friends!

I warmly greet the organizers and participants of the Second Expert Forum “Global political and economic center” (GPEC), being held at JejuIsland, remarkable for its wonderful beauty! It is particularly important for me that the current event is dedicated to a very actual topic for our two States - “Korea-Russia Partnership to Eurasia Prosperity.” It is also notable that the Forum is being held in a remarkable moment, when Asia and Europe, overcoming the difficulties, caused by the global financial crisis, achieve tangible results in economic development and intensify political dialogue.

Nowadays, the cooperation between Asia and Europe is passing a new historical milestone, opening opportunities for further development. Currently, it’s more important than ever for asian and european states to adapt to new trends, proceeding from strategic long-term prospects, to move forward step by step the process of interaction between asian and european continents, to select as a priority economic growth, financial system reform, an effective response to global challenges, the enhancement of inter-civilizational exchanges as well as strengthening peace and stability.

It is well-known that in 2010 Russia has become a member of Asia-Europe Forum (ASEM). Being historically and geographically a nexus between the two continents, we are interested to contribute to the development of asian-european cooperation. Today we have some specific ideas that we intend to share with all the partners within the framework of ASEM. They relate to convergence of energy strategies, approaches to environmental challenges, responding to emergencies, coordination of joint investment projects, which would be particularly effective if realized on multilateral level. In the Eurasian space we intend to continue to advance political dialogue and socio-cultural exchanges that will help to solve many burning issues of Asia and Europe. In this regard, one of our priorities in Asia are the relations with the Republic of Korea, which is one of the fastest growing countries in Asia-Pacific Region. It is very important that Russia and the Republic of Korea have a common interest in strengthening peace and security in Asia-Pacific Region by normalizing the situation on the KoreanPeninsula and in Northeast Asia, settlement of nuclear issue, bridging contacts between North and South Korea, and implementation of large-scale economic projects. This process could also contribute to the implementation of several major trilateral projects involving Russia, the ROK and the DPRK, such as connecting the Trans-Korean and Trans-Siberian Railways with their further connection to Europe, as well as the creation of unified energy system and pipeline network, linking Korean Peninsula with the regions of Eastern Siberia and Russian Far East.

Dear friends!

The Russian-Korean Joint Statement signed in November 2010 following the official visit of the President of the Russian Federation, H.E. Mr. D.A. Medvedev, to the Republic of Korea, underlines the intent of Russia and South Korea to promote the Russian-Korean dialogue in all the fields. The current session of the Forum, which is dedicated to the discussion of critical issues of cooperation in Eurasia, is a clear example of such a dialogue. I am confident that the ideas and proposals made at the conference will be useful for the governments of Russia, Republic of Korea and other countries, will help to strengthen bilateral relations and will be successfully implemented.

I wish success to the work of the Forum!