Joining WTO a great leap forward for Russia

MOSCOW - Joining the World Trade Organization was a great leap forward for Russia, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said on Sunday.

Addressing the audience of the World Economic Forum which kicked off in Moscow, Medvedev said the Russian government has made great efforts in recent years to get into the world trade bloc and the country was living "in a new dimension".

"Despite a whole range of challenges facing some sectors of our economy, I think it is good for our economy," Medvedev said during the session "Russia in the global context".

Under the framework of WTO, Russia also needs to think about its membership in the already-implemented Customs Union and Common Economic Space agreements with its regional partners, Medvedev said in a speech published on the government's website.

Admitting Russia faced a hard year amid gloomy global economy, Medvedev said his country would manage to remain within the "median scenario" of growth.

"If you compare our economic indices with that of the European economies and a number of other economies, ours looked not bad," he said.

Recalling a meeting with other world leaders of the Group of Twenty, Medvedev said everyone had made different predictions on the future of the world economy. "The biggest optimists put the letter V, the biggest pessimists used the letter L. The result was at somewhere in between."

Living in a highly uncertain world, no one was guaranteed from getting a second recession and should get ready for next moves, Medvedev said.