The Prime Minister spoke at the plenary session, Industrial Strategies of the Modern Time, and visited the themed exhibitions devoted to machine-building, shipbuilding, machine-tool building, and the chemical, metal, textile and aviation sectors together with the heads of government of Kazakhstan, Belarus and Kyrgyzstan.
Organised by the Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Ministry of Industry and Construction of Kazakhstan, the international industrial trade fair Innoprom. Qazaqstan will be held at the EXPO International Exhibition Centre in Astana on 25–27 September 2023. The exposition area will cover more than 120,000 square metres and will bring together the national expositions of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Russian Federation (the collective displays of the Novgorod Region, the Government of Moscow, the Government of St Petersburg, the Republic of Tatarstan, the Republic of Udmurtia, the Sverdlovsk Region, the Orenburg Region, the Chelyabinsk Region, the Krasnoyarsk Territory, the Republic of Bashkortostan, a display of innovative and industrial projects by the Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade, and the Republic of Belarus. In addition, there will be an outdoor section at the exposition.
More than 300 companies from the following industries have applied to participate in Innoprom. Qazaqstan: transport, agricultural, energy generating engineering, machine-tool construction, the chemical industry, metallurgy, industrial IT and many others.
The main plenary session, ‘Industrial Strategies of the Modern Time,’ will be attended by Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Mikhail Mishustin, Prime Minister of the Republic of Kazakhstan Alikhan Smailov, Prime Minister of the Republic of Belarus Roman Golovchenko, and Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers of Kyrgyzstan Akylbek Japarov. Specialised sessions are also scheduled on the digitalisation of industry, cooperation in mechanical engineering, mining, technologies for big cities, energy, and the nuclear industry, and others.
International exhibitions under the Innoprom brand are regularly held abroad. For example, Innoprom. Central Asia was held three times in the Republic of Uzbekistan (5–7 April 2021; 25–27 April 2022; 24–26 April 2023), and the exposition area has more than doubled over these years. Also, Innoprom business mission was held in Saudi Arabia on 29–30 May 2023.
Mikhail Mishustin’s remarks:
Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, friends, colleagues!
I would like to start by thanking our Kazakhstani partners – President of the Republic of Kazakhstan esteemed Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and Prime Minister Alikhan Smailov – for the warm welcome accorded to the Russian delegation and for hosting the international industrial exhibition in Astana.
I am confident that this will advance the successful dialogue which is already underway at the digital forum in Almaty and at Innoprom in Yekaterinburg. Without a doubt, it will help us better understand each other's interests, and exchange experiences and expertise, as well as innovative technology.
Today's event is attended by representatives from nearly 200 leading Russian companies that are interested in expanding mutually beneficial cooperation. Ten Russian regions, including Moscow, St Petersburg, Tatarstan, the Krasnoyarsk Territory, and Bashkortostan, have set up booths as well.
I would also like to welcome my colleagues Prime Minister of the Republic of Belarus Roman Golovchenko and Prime Minister of the Kyrgyz Republic Akylbek Japarov. We meet on a regular basis which allows us to compare notes regarding the agenda and to launch new initiatives and promising projects. We also work together to respond to external challenges.
I would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a happy Machine Builder's Day, which is marked in our countries on the last Sunday of September. This is a professional day for all workers, technicians, engineers, and designers from this leading sector of the economy.
Their daily work is the main driver behind a growing Russian industry. In particular, automotive segment output grew by approximately 50 percent in July compared to July 2022. Overall, the manufacturing sector grew by about 10 percent.
Systematic measures and state support have helped our enterprises quickly adapt to sanctions-related challenges. They have established alternative supply routes and new cooperation ties. They are expanding production capacities with strong performance dynamics.
According to preliminary forecasts, manufacturing’s share of the GDP will increase by 0.2 percentage points this year to 13.8 percent, excluding oil processing and the food industry.
The President has set a goal to ensure maximum independence and self-sufficiency in domestic industry.
Within the framework of the existing Technological Development Concept, we are preparing for the launch of major projects that will enable a significant leap in key highly research-intensive areas, primarily, machine building, micro- and radio-electronics, and low-tonnage chemicals. Other sectors include shipbuilding, the autonomous aerial vehicle industry, and civil aviation as a whole.
Diesel engineering and the production of equipment for LNG processing will be taken to the next level, as will the sectors related to the manufacturing of medical products and pharmaceuticals.
As a result, an inter-industry connection system for all critical components, raw materials, materials, and other components will be created.
Strengthening technological sovereignty has become an important area of joint work in the Eurasian space. It is crucial to combine resources and competences to ensure the resilience of production complexes to external factors and protect our countries’ economies and citizens amid increasing turbulence and competition.
Russia is open to expanding cooperation with all of its EAEU partners. Without a doubt, that includes Kazakhstan, our relations with which are based on friendship, strategic alliance, and partnership.
Trade with Kazakhstan reached record-high levels last year at almost 2 trillion roubles and has shown positive dynamics this year as well growing by more than 10 percent to over 1.5 trillion roubles in just the first seven months of 2023.
Our enterprises have traditionally close cooperative ties, and there are tens of thousands of companies with Russian capital operating in Kazakhstani markets.
Joint work is underway in various sectors of engineering, including heavy, special, and agricultural equipment engineering, as well as the aerospace and the automotive industries and many other important areas, such as the chemical industry and in light industry categories. Today, we have seen many examples of such cooperation at the exhibition too, among other places.
The President emphasised the need to promote industrial cooperation and to increase the number of new joint production sites under the common Made in the EAEU trade mark.
We just toured the exhibition with our countries’ displays. We familiarised ourselves with a range of high-tech designs. Many of them are the result of the joint efforts of our leading companies from the five EAEU countries and our other Eurasian partners.
Already now, the EAEU industrialisation map includes over 150 such projects in 25 sectors whose combined value exceeds 26 trillion roubles.
I am convinced that our potential is even greater, and it is, therefore, necessary to increase the effectiveness of this work, to facilitate technology transfers and scientific and technical information exchanges, and in general, the implementation of large-scale priority projects.
Of course, it is extremely important that a decision was made at the level of the heads of state from the five EAEU countries in late 2022 to create a pilot mechanism for financing industrial initiatives from the EAEU budget.
This measure has not been used before. It will become operational after it is finalised and its essential terms are agreed on. Importantly, though, companies from at least three countries must participate in cooperative projects. The selection criteria will be approved at a meeting of the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council in October.
Certainly, various non-financial tools should be introduced as well, including convenient digital solutions, which can significantly facilitate the establishment of business partnerships.
I believe that our concerted actions will make it possible to significantly expand cooperation in the manufacturing sector, which will allow us to use many innovative and promising designs for the benefit of our people.
Friends,
Holding Innoprom in Kazakhstan opens excellent opportunities for deepening integration within the Eurasian Economic Union which will be beneficial for the EAEU partners and the Eurasian countries.
In closing, I would like to invite everyone to come to Yekaterinburg next summer for the Russian Innoprom.
Of course, we look forward to seeing you, our friends, at the International Exhibition and Forum “'Russia” which will open in Moscow in early November.
Once again, I would like to wish all the participants productive meetings and discussions.
Thank you.
