Concluding Remarks by the Ambassador of the Russian Federation to the Republic of Korea H.E.Mr.Konstantin V.Vnukov on the joint session of St. Petersburg International Economic Forum and the Federation of Korean Industries

Esteemed Mr. Park Chan-Ho, Secretary General of Federation of Korean Industries,

Esteemed Deputy Ministers Mr. Han Jin-Hyun and Mr. Sergey Belyakov,

Ladies and gentlemen,

First of all, I would like to thank all the participants for their businesslike approach showed during this session, openness for constructive dialogue and deep interest in the topics discussed. Taking the opportunity, I would also like to thank our Korean partners for their support of Russian initiatives during our APEC chairmanship last year and during current preparations for the Saint-Petersburg International Economic Forum session and G20 Summit which is to be held in the Saint-Petersburg on early September. We see this support being a clear evidence that the Russian Federation and the Republic of Korea share common views on the new political and economic situation in the world which brings up not only uneasy threats and challenges, but also a window of opportunity to deepen integration process, widen trade and economic, investment, scientific, technical and humanitarian cooperation.

It is extremely important that our countries don’t have any complex problems rooted in the history of our relations, neither do our national interests clash. Quite the contrary, we have a constantly growing field for economic collaboration, active and mutually beneficial interaction not only in traditional spheres, but in the areas of high-technology as well, including space, biotechnologies and IT, nuclear energy.

Another meaningful fact is that president-elects of both countries – His Excellency Mr. Vladimir Putin and Her Excellency Madame Park Kyung-hue –both named the relations between our countries as one of the foreign policy priorities during the days of their inauguration. Vladimir Putin did it in his Decree on Foreign Policy, signed in May, 7th, and Madame Park – in her inauguration speech on February, 25th.

I believe that the similarity in the strategic views of Vladimir Putin and Madame Park on future integration processes in Eurasia, Asia-Pacific region and North-Eastern Asia opens up quite a number of opportunities on both bilateral and multilateral ground, including well-known trilateral projects between Russia and North and South Korea.

It is important for us to take the advantage of the latest factors, such as Russia’s entering the World Trade Organization, as well as the cooperation with Korea not only on bilateral grounds, but also within the framework of the Customs Union, which includes Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus and whose joint consumers’ market totals 176 millions of people, or, taking into account the possibility of Ukraine’s joining the Union – 225 millions.

These and other pending issues have become the topics of discussion during today’s session held on the threshold of St. Petersburg Economic Forum. And I would like to thank once again the organizing team for their great work, and the participants – for their interesting and constructive presentations.

Thank you for your attention.