MOSCOW, December 16, 7:10 /ITAR-TASS/. A conference on the theme of "One Hundred Steps Towards Favourable Investment Climate. Achievements and New Challenges" opens here on Monday. The Agency for Strategic Initiatives (ASI), one of the organizers of the conference point out that the purpose of the confrrence is to systematize and evaluate the experience gained over the two years of efforts to implrment the National Entrepreneurial Initiative, as well as to discuss goals for the 2014-2015 period.
The two-day conference will be attendd by First Vice-Premier Igor Shuvalov, Minister for the Development of the Far East Alexander Galushka, Assistant to the Russian President Andrei Belouso, representatives of ministries,governors, executives of companies, members of public organizations, etc.
In December 2013, it is exactly two years since an active work was launched on the initiative of the then Head of Government Vladimir Putin to implement roadmaps adopted within the framework of the National Entrepreneurial Initiative. The roadmaps are aimed at creating comfortable conditions for the transaction of business in Russia, at facilitating linking-up to electric power networks, the registration of property and businesses, the development of competition, support for export, access to state-run companies' purchases, raising the quality of state regulation, and other matters.
ASI analysts point out that Russia's upward shift in 2013 by 20 points in the World Bank's Doing Buisiness standard rating has become a certain indicator of success in attaining the goals set in the roadmaps.
Vladimir Putin also repeatedly spoke of the roadmaps recently. At a session of the Economic Council to the President early in December, he said that he expected that a due attention would be paid to those documents in future as well. "I expect very much that we shall continue to devote due attention to all matters set out in them (roadmaps)," the President pointed out. He added that the accomplishment of tasks set in the documents "is directly connected with the efforts to normalize the Russian economy, particularly in present-day conditions when the world economy has somewhat slowed down and the Russian one does not yield the results we expected".
"It (Russian economy) will still be with a plus. Save God, (a certain) development is observed. However, we expected a different scope", the President said. "And it is evident now to all of us that the state of affairs can be improved and the rate of economic growt can be raised exclusively through changing the economic situation, improving business climate and creating conditions for attracting investments," the Head of State summarized. A considerable portion of the Presidential Address to the Federal Assembly on December 12 was also devoted to the transaction of business and the creation of comfortable conditions for entrepreneurship.