VLADIVOSTOK, September 5. /TASS/. Russia wants the Far East to remain a safe and stable region, Russian President Vladimir Putin told a plenary session of the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok on Thursday.
"We are proud as the Far East today has become one of the symbols of the entire country’s openness, innovation and determination to remove various barriers for communication between businesses and people," Putin said. "Certainly, we understand that this outcome would not have been possible without enhancing the atmosphere of trust and constructive cooperation in the Asia-Pacific Region in general, and we want these positive trends to develop, so that our common region would be safe and stable."
According to the president, Russia’s relations with India, China, South Korea, Malaysia, Mongolia, Japan and other countries of the Asia-Pacific Region are based on the principles of respect. Putin expressed confidence that the prospects of cultivating this development were related to the growing role of the Asia-Pacific Region in the upcoming decades.
This year, more than 8,500 participants from 65 countries have arrived for the EEF, he stated. "Compared with the first forum, the number of participants has more than doubled. We see here a convincing proof that there is a growing interest in Russia’s Far East and those opportunities for cooperation, which this huge region (without exaggeration) is offering," Putin said.
Russia’s authorities, who outlined a long-term strategy of the Far East’s development in the mid-2000s, made a stake on the region’s maximum transparency, close integration in economic, transport and humanitarian space in the Asia-Pacific Region.
Putin recalled that in the beginning and in the middle of the 20th century and later during the Cold War, many territories in Russia’s Far East, including Vladivostok, were only used for military purposes, noting that this halted the region’s economic and social development. "Over the past years, the situation has drastically changed," the president stressed.