Agenda: cooperation with China and other issues.
Transcript:
Meeting with deputy prime ministers
Dmitry Medvedev: <...> Mr Dvorkovich, you’ve visited our neighbours, the People’s Republic of China. Obviously, cooperation with China and the rest of the Asia-Pacific Region is one of our priorities.
I’d like to emphasise that we’re consolidating the Eastern vector not for some opportunistic considerations or in response to some sanctions or other measures. This is a demand of the time and the country simply benefits from this cooperation.
Dmitry Medvedev: "I’d like to emphasise that we’re consolidating the Eastern vector not for some opportunistic considerations or in response to some sanctions or other measures. This is a demand of the time and the country simply benefits from this cooperation."
A well-considered course towards strategic partnership in the Asia-Pacific Region should bring us impressive dividends. This region is growing faster than any other and is likely to continue growing in the near future. We must take this into account while determining our foreign and economic political course for the next few years.
Moreover, cooperation with Asian and Pacific countries is important for us also because we plan to speed up the socio-economic development of our Far East and all our transport routes from there lead to this region. We’re discussing many projects on this score and are already carrying out some of them.
Dmitry Medvedev: "Cooperation with Asian and Pacific countries is important for us also because we plan to speed up the socio-economic development of our Far East and all our transport routes from there lead to this region."
I know that you’ve conducted talks with your colleagues and a meeting of the co-chairman of the Russia-China intergovernmental energy cooperation commission. Mr Rogozin will also hold a meeting of the relevant intergovernmental commission on Friday, so we are stepping up our cooperation with this region.
You attended the Boao Forum for Asia, at which I spoke as well. This is a kind of Asian Davos (I’m not sure if this name fits), a major economic forum. Could you tell us what interesting developments took place there?
Arkady Dvorkovich: In the first half of our trip, my colleague and I held a meeting of the Russia-China energy cooperation commission. We are cooperating on a large scale across the board – from oil and gas to electric power, coal supplies and nuclear power engineering. However, the potential of our cooperation is much bigger than that and we’ve agreed to develop it.
Arkady Dvorkovich: "My colleague and I held a meeting of the Russia-China energy cooperation commission. We are cooperating on a large scale across the board – from oil and gas to electric power, coal supplies and nuclear power engineering. However, the potential of our cooperation is much bigger than that and we’ve agreed to develop it."
Take oil and oil products, for instance. Major decisions have been made but both our Chinese partners and we as well want to increase the scale of our cooperation.
Our Chinese colleagues have met us halfway in some areas, including the structure of funding some projects. We’ll fulfil our commitments in full.
The talks on gas are nearing completion and both sides want to complete this work before the Russian President’s visit to China next May.
We can increase energy and coal supplies three or four times and we know how to achieve this. Now experts are conducting feasibility studies to establish in which projects we could make joint investments.
Mr Rogozin will continue consultations on the nuclear power industry. We already have a project there, but some issues are still outstanding.
We’ve also agreed to look at some new projects, including those in our new regions. Our Chinese colleagues that are involved with alternative energy sources are showing interest in such projects in the Republic of Crimea.
As for the Boao Forum, it was fairly representative as over the past few years. It was attended by seven prime ministers and not only from Asia but also from Africa – the Namibian Prime Minister took part in the forum.
Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang reaffirmed China’s determination to continue and expand comprehensive strategic partnership and cooperation with Russia.
I’ve spoken with all of the other prime ministers as well. Each country has sound potential. Take Vietnam and Laos or the aforementioned Namibia or Pakistan and Korea. We’ve agreed to continue consultations with them via the relevant intergovernmental commission and in the ministries concerned.
Arkady Dvorkovich: "Each country has sound potential. Take Vietnam and Laos or the aforementioned Namibia or Pakistan and Korea. We’ve agreed to continue consultations with them via the relevant intergovernmental commission and in the ministries concerned."
I’d like to add that Hainan, which hosted the forum, is a rapidly growing tourist market. Hainan is interested in more air routes from Russia and, incidentally, is a twin province of the Republic of Crimea and Yalta is a twin sister of Hainan’s capital Sanya. They also have interesting ideas on this score. So we’ll continue cooperation with them, too.
Dmitry Medvedev: Okay. Thank you. I think that this is such an important topic that I’d like to ask Mr Prikhodko to plan my separate meeting with the Government and probably invite some business representatives to discuss cooperation with the Asia-Pacific Region.
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