Mikhail Mishustin: “It is very important for the Government to receive feedback from people and businesses, as well as from those who also worked in the Government. This is necessary for making balanced and effective decisions that consider all aspects of what may sometimes be a complicated issue. ”
Excerpts from the transcript:
Mikhail Mishustin’s meeting with members of the Government Expert Council
Mikhail Mishustin’s meeting with members of the Government Expert Council
Mikhail Mishustin’s meeting with members of the Government Expert Council
Mikhail Mishustin’s meeting with members of the Government Expert Council
Mikhail Mishustin’s meeting with members of the Government Expert Council
Mikhail Mishustin: Good afternoon, my dear friends.
Today, we will hold the first meeting of the Expert Council in its new format. The Council has become more compact and collaboration-oriented. I suggest discussing today the details and approaches to its activities going forward.
It is very important for the Government to receive feedback from people and businesses, as well as from those who also worked in the Government. I would like to welcome my former colleagues here. The President often talks about feedback and how we need take it in, assess it and never forget it. This is necessary for making balanced and effective decisions that consider all aspects of what may sometimes be a complicated issue.
We established the Coordination Centre specially to gather objective information on the problems that worry our people. Many of you visited it. It was built using cutting-edge technology. It processes feedback in real time and conducts a host of sociological polls. We are learning – I believe we have already learned – to assess the contribution made by our companies, state and development institutions, national projects, government programmes and our efforts to achieving the national goals set by the President. This assessment is a very important element that we should use to engage with our expert community. It must be transparent and understandable for us.
The Expert Council is yet another aspect of this approach, and that includes gathering objective feedback from the scientific community, businesses, experienced experts and people who have their own opinion on the problems we will discuss.
We already have significant experience working together. In all, 42 initiatives for national socio-economic development approved by the President were formulated with your participation (practically all those whom I see here played a most active role in this).
Measures carried out under national projects are subject to oversight. Social and expert councils are involved in decision-making on their implementation.
Our main goal is to drastically improve living standards. With this aim in view, we are planning to develop our infrastructure, create new growth points in the economy and improve the healthcare system, which is particularly urgent during the coronavirus pandemic, and in general, to create comfortable living conditions for our people. After all, a comfortable environment has nothing to do with abstract changes. It includes practically everything that is important to people: good hospitals, good roads, quality water and decent living conditions. This is what determines whether people want to live and work in a particular region.
Therefore, it is no less important for the Expert Council to establish a feedback mechanism with the regions of the Russian Federation, with our regions. Their opinion on how the Government’s measures work locally will allow us to adjust our actions more precisely.
I am absolutely certain that we will be able to move faster by working together, and that includes progress towards our national development goals.
I will repeat that each of you present has significant experience working both in the Government and jointly with the Government, and understands well how the cabinet of ministers operates. All of you were doing important work for our country. Since you represent major government and private entities and are recognised experts in your fields, I believe we will be able to facilitate cooperation with our ministries, departments, federal executive bodies and development institutions.
Now there has appeared a new generation of experts who, I would say, have no preconceptions. This is a good thing. I think we should involve them in this work more actively. They will not blindly copy foreign experience or look back decades. They are able to objectively assess the advantages and disadvantages of various decisions and suggest the best approach.
I know that many of you have proposals on priority issues for next year. I have instructed my deputies to support systematic, constructive work with both the Council and its members. I will note that the Government Executive Office is willing to give you all the necessary assistance and support. I have asked Deputy Prime Minister and Government Chief of Staff Dmitry Grigorenko and his Deputy Alexander Gribov to personally oversee this work.
