In Sochi there has passed the summit Russia-ASEAN.
– The summit in Sochi was held under the motto “towards a mutually beneficial strategic partnership and become the largest international event in Russia this year.
We will remind, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) comprises Brunei, Vietnam, Indonesia, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines.
In the ASEAN countries are home to more than 600 million people, which produce a combined GDP of $ 3.5 trillion dollars. The ASEAN economy is growing at 5% per year against the world average rate of 3.5%, and GDP in 2020 will reach 4 trillion US. After 30 years, ASEAN has become the fourth economy in the world after China, USA and the European Union.
The trade turnover between Russia and ASEAN from 2005 to 2014 has increased more than 5 times and reached 21.4 billion U.S. dollars, and last year because of the crisis, fell to 13.7 billion dollars, the volume of mutual investments of 11 billion dollars. “ASEAN, for example, with the people’s Republic of China 80 billion dollars turnover, from us, Russia, China about the same,” – said in Sochi, Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Russia is supplying the countries of ASEAN steel products, fertilizers, crude oil, oil products, petrochemicals, timber and cellulose with a small percentage of products with high added value. From ASEAN, Russia exports natural rubber, palm and coconut oil, tea, fruits, consumer goods, electronics and computer equipment.
Such modest figures do not reflect the potential trade and investment Russian-oceanscope interaction, so in Sochi special attention to politicians, businessmen and experts from 11 countries was paid to the economy and expressed its intention to increase the volume of bilateral trade to $ 100 billion by 2025.
Already today between ASEAN countries and Russia scheduled 57 large investment projects in oil refining, energy, agriculture, transport, information technology and other various fields. These projects are approved by the Ministry of economic development of the Russian Federation and the ASEAN Secretariat.
For the development of trade and investment the governments of Russia and ASEAN countries needs to eliminate the existing administrative barriers and to solve many of the problems associated with the system of registration, customs clearance and certification of goods.
Entrepreneurs ask government to expedite the establishment of preferential trade relations to the free movement of goods, services and capital. Company from Russia and ASEAN also in dire need of better information for development of joint business projects.
On the eve of the summit in Sochi, Russia suggested that the member States of ASEAN to create an economic partnership, which will be not only to develop trade ties, but also address issues of tariff policy, technical regulation, market access, electronic exchange of information, development of various forms of infrastructure.
At the plenary session on the concluding day of the summit, the participants unanimously endorsed the Sochi Declaration “towards a mutually beneficial strategic partnership” and adopted a comprehensive action plan for the development of partnership between Russia and ASEAN for 2016-2020.
Signed in Sochi the Declaration includes not only economy and trade but also the issues of ensuring common security and socio-cultural interaction.
Thus, the Declaration encourages “expanding cooperation on countering new challenges in the field of security, such as international terrorism, transnational crime, information security threats, as well as in the field of combating illegal production and trafficking through global and regional mechanisms, primarily through the UN”.
In addition, ASEAN and Russia expressed their intention to promote cooperation in combating transnational organized crime, including human trafficking, illegal migration, sea piracy, arms smuggling, money laundering, international economic crime and cyber crime.
For several years Russia has promoted the strengthening of law enforcement capacities of ASEAN, including in the training of specialized personnel, organization of appropriate training programs qualification that is highly valued by all countries-participants. An important place in the discussions at the summit was dedicated to the problems of accelerating integration processes in the Eurasian space and in the Asia-Pacific region (APR) involving ASEAN and Russia.
In particular, ASEAN will consider that Russia put forward a proposal for a joint study of the prospects for the creation of a comprehensive free trade area (FTA) between ASEAN and the Eurasian economic Union (EAEU), which unites Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan.
In June of this year can enter into force the agreement on the FTA between Vietnam and the Eurasian economic Union, signed in may last year. Negotiations are underway with five ASEAN members – Malaysia, Singapore, Cambodia, Thailand and Indonesia on the establishment of an FTA with the EEU. They discussed issues of cooperation of the parties in the areas of regional economic integration, customs administration, technical regulation, application of sanitary measures, Finance, transport, energy, agriculture, industry, information technology and others.
Therefore, it seems quite logical that the prospect of creating a free trade zone that would cover all the countries of the EEU and ASEAN. This will contribute to the work on creation of the above mentioned economic partnership between Russia and ASEAN. And is a response to challenges that may not always give the answer of the WTO. Such education could be a response generated by the efforts of the United States such organizations as the TRANS-Pacific and Transatlantic partnerships.
The Sochi Declaration also States the intention to consider the possibility of mutually beneficial cooperation between ASEAN, the Eurasian economic Union and the Shanghai cooperation organization (SCO) consisting of Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. In June of this year at the annual SCO summit in Tashkent will consider full membership in this organization of India and Pakistan, plus the membership claimed by Afghanistan and Iran. Thus, the SCO will be a very powerful coalition in Eurasia.
At the same time the countries of the SCO and the Eurasian economic Union are preparing an agreement on economic continental partnership, which will provide for the free movement of goods, movement of capital, investment, facilitating trade, creating a comfortable environment for increasing the share of calculations in national currencies and preferential market access services.
Russia stands for the “integration of integrations”, for the formation of an economic and humanitarian space in Eurasia, drawing on the principles of indivisible security and broad cooperation.
“The logic of “inseparability” is applicable not only to the field of security (security of one state should not be at the expense of the security of the other – approx. of the author), but also to the world economic space, – said the Russian foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on April 28. Is that philosophy, unlike supporters of the “closed” integration alliances, guided the participants of the Eurasian project. We don’t oppose the EEU to other integration formats, ready to work on their harmonization. Joint movement in the direction of “integration of integrations”, pair large national and cross-border projects will open up broad prospects for mutually beneficial”.
Recall that in may 2015, signed the Declaration of leaders of Russia and China on the beginning of the EAEU and the Chinese project “Economic belt silk road”. According to the Minister of foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov, the first practical element in this work is the preparation of the agreement on trade-economic cooperation between the EEC and the PRC, as well as the “road map” of priority integration projects in the format of EEU and China.
Beijing is also interested in the initiative formulated by the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin about creation of a free trade zone between the EEU and the SCO.
The Sochi Declaration much attention is paid to socio – cultural cooperation, development cooperation in education to reinforce contacts, mutual understanding and friendship between people. The decision on carrying out in 2016, events of cross Years of culture.
It was also decided to strengthen cooperation in the field of environmental protection and the prevention and elimination of consequences of natural disasters.
Will explore prospects of cooperation in the field of improving living standards and ensure equal access to opportunities for all, promote and protect the rights of women, children, youth, ageing, disabled persons and migrant workers.
ASEAN and Russia will strengthen mutual relations, including by improving the efficiency of transport and the development of contacts between people.
To strengthen the partnership decided to establish a permanent mission of Russia to the ASEAN in Jakarta, where the Secretariat of the organization.
The leaders of Russia and ASEAN countries endorsed a Comprehensive action plan for development cooperation for 2016-2020. A document consists of five main parts and 142 points, which will detail areas of cooperation and necessary for its development steps.
The Sochi summit was very rich, informative and efficient, he brings Russian-asiansa relations to a qualitatively new level of strategic partnership.
