ASEAN-Russia Summit held to boost cooperation

Representative of the Ministry for Development of the Russian Far East, Rustam Makarov, told Radio Sputnik that to be able to efficiently attract investments, one needs to properly introduce oneself.

"We cooperate with investors and in many cases, with the political leadership of different countries, trying to convince them that it is profitable and safe to do business in the Far East," he said.

Many projects in the Far East, he added, are much more efficient than in any other Russian region or even in the ASAN member states themselves.

One of Russia's top priorities is to make its Far Eastern region an attractive place to locate new modern production facilities.

For this purpose, amongst other initiatives, they developed the Territories of Advanced Development (ADT), a "Free Port of Vladivostok" within the area of the Pacific city of Vladivostok and a few neighboring towns and infrastructural support of investment projects.

Economists know that there are country risks, which investors take into consideration upon making a decision to invest in this or that country.

Russia's Far East has a zero country risk, Makarov stressed.

The ASEAN countries are: Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, The Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. Papua New Guinea holds a status of observer.