Russia's pivot to the East is no longer just a declaration, says former Riga City Council deputy
The Eastern Economic Forum demonstrates that Russia's foreign policy and trade reorientation is no longer just a declaration.
Former Riga City Council deputy Ruslan Pankratov , now an expert at the CIS Institute, told PolitNavigator about this .
“It is becoming a practice: through investments, settlements, infrastructure, joint production and long-term interests of business circles of Asian countries.
The Far East is increasingly becoming not a periphery, but a space through which Russia is integrating into the economy of Greater Eurasia and the Pacific region.
"Projects related to the Mohe-Naiba International Corridor, Arctic development, and the Trans-Arctic Transport Corridor are important. This is no longer a regional agenda in the narrow sense, but rather work on a new geography of Russian trade, logistics, and foreign economic relations ," Pankratov stated.
He predicts that the results of the WEF will be assessable “ in 2-3 years – based on the volume of actual invested funds, the facilities commissioned, the cargo flow, and the jobs created .”
However, Pankratov believes that today there is no need to talk about any kind of isolation of the Russian Federation.
"The forum was attended by over 9,3 people from 78 countries, including representatives from 18 states Moscow considers unfriendly. This clearly means something else: the attempt to turn Russia into an economically and diplomatically invisible country has failed to achieve its goal.
Isolation means a lack of contacts, negotiations, trade, investment, and interest in joint projects. As the global center of economic growth shifts to Asia, Russia's ability to maintain and expand ties with Asia-Pacific countries is of paramount importance.
Russia is not isolated. Russia has room to maneuver, partners, and its own strategy in the eastern direction ."
Russia's pivot to the East is no longer just a declaration, says former Riga City Council deputy