TOKYO, December 13. /ITAR-TASS/. Japanese business is backing Russian President Vladimir Putin’s plans for advanced economic growth zones in Eastern Siberia and the Far East.
The president's ideas, presented in his state of the nation address on Thursday, were achievable, said director of research at Japan's Association for Trade with Russia and the New Independent States Toshikazu Endo.
Japan's business community pinned much hope on the initiative, he told Itar-Tass in Friday comments on Putin’s speech, welcoming the concept of reviving investment activity in a region focused until now on mineral extraction.
Endo was reviewing the Russian leader's plans for incentives to grow export-focused business unrelated to the minerals industry. Locations will be identified and regulations passed by July next year, the president has ordained.
Incentives will include five-year exemption of corporate tax, real estate and property taxes alongside preferential insurance rates assessed as important for hi-tech production, Putin proposed. Similar exemptions would be available for mineral extraction other than oil and gas.
Japanese business would welcome proposals to attract industrial capital if conditions on offer were favourable, Endo said, noting that tax exemptions should be accompanied by essential industrial infrastructure such as gas, water and electricity.
Clear understanding was needed of who would be in charge of putting development plans into action, Endo said. Private companies willing to work in Russia had taken the lead in the past, he said.