Russia plans more industrial parks for Asean
Asean needs a permanent platform for its goods and services to be exposed to Russian consumers in order to boost its trade volume and further expand economic cooperation, a visiting senior Russian business official said.
Viktor Tarusin, executive director of the Russia-Asean Business Council, said some platforms such as industrial parks for Asean businesses had already been proposed, with Asean ambassadors, who visited the sites in June.
"We have a number of active industrial parks, but what is more important is that they are run by private initiatives with no state participation," Tarusin said on Wednesday in his presentation during the Russia-Brunei Business Forum in the Brunei capital.
Although Russia is not one of Asean’s top trading partners, both parties have seen a steady growth in its total trade volume, according to statistics from the Asean website. The website stated that total trade between the region and Russia grew by 9.9 per cent from US$18.2 billion in 2012 to $19.9 billion (about Bt700 billion) a year later.
Foreign direct investment from Russia also increased by nearly 200 per cent from $180 million in 2012 to $540 million in 2013.
Tarusin also noted that the industrial parks such as those in the Russian cities of Noginsk and Tula were fully equipped with all of the necessities such as electricity, water and heating, making it easy for companies to set up their equipment and begin operations as soon as possible.
He said there were plans to make more industrial parks available for Asean businesses as Russia moves to increase its attractiveness to Asean countries.
There is also further investment coming from Germany to build three more full-fledged industrial parks with a combined space of 1,500 square metres, the executive director said.
According to statistics compiled by the Russia-Asean Business Council, Russia carries the sixth-largest gross domestic product at purchasing power parity with $3.6 trillion, behind the economies of China, the United States, India, Japan and Germany.
The country’s GDP per capita almost tripled last year from the 1999 level, growing from $9,258 to $24,806.
In the same period, the country’s average nominal monthly income grew by nearly 14 times from $61 to $843.
