2nd Eastern Economic Forum kick starts in Vladivostok

The forum has seen more than 200 agreements worth at least 1.7 trillion rubles (more than $26 billion) signed, Russia’s Far East Development Minister Aleksandr Galushka said.

“More than 3,000 people from 60 countries are taking part in the Eastern Economic Forum. The largest delegation has come from Japan. The second largest is from China while the third is from People’s Republic of Korea,” Galushka also noted.

As many as 34 investment projects totalling 1.5 trillion rubles (more than $23 billion) have been unveiled at the forum so far, Galushka added.

Russian President Vladimir Putin says that military and political de-escalation is key for trying to end the nuclear dispute on the Korean Peninsula. “I want to stress that our countries [Russia and South Korea] did not accept the self-proclaimed nuclear status of Pyongyang [North Korea],” Putin said on Saturday.

“Russia believes that the solution regarding the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula should be found by military and political de-escalation in north eastern Asia,” he stressed. He added that ways needed to be found to lower the level of military confrontation and increase trust amongst neighboring countries in order to prevent further provocations.

“Only by combining our efforts can we create favorable conditions for countries in the region to ensure stability, security and prosperity,” Putin concluded.

Earlier on Saturday, South Korean President Park Geun-hye urged Russia and other concerned parties to increase pressure on North Korea to halt its nuclear weapons development program.

South Korea confirmed it is interested in creating a free trade zone with the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU), Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Saturday.

“Our Korean partners have confirmed their interest in creating a free trade zone with the Eurasian Economic Union,” Putin said after talks with South Korean President Park Geun-hye. “We are ready to jointly think through our integration plans and President Park’s idea within her Eurasian initiative,” he added.

The Russian leader also complimented Korean companies Hyundai Motors and Samsung for carrying out successful work on Russian soil, as well as the construction of maritime vessels in South Korea for Russian customers as examples of successful cooperation between the two states.

Putin added that he expects Korean companies to take part in work to develop areas in Russia’s Far East.

Cooperation between Russia and South Korea in the sphere of transport to open up new possibilities to develop resources, South Korean President Park Geun-hye said at the EEF.

"Through cooperation between [South] Korean and Russian businessmen in the sphere of creation of infrastructure, including in the sphere of transport and ports, it will be possible to work out a new multimodal logistical route that will allow to unite the Eurasian continent. Particularly, the Northeast Passage will open new possibilities for a sustainable development of resources," Park said, according to Sputnik.

"Today, we already provide direct state subsidies to investors for the development of transport, energy and other infrastructure, for the opening of new production facilities. We are now thinking about improving support mechanisms. Investors who will build external infrastructure on their own, should receive this additional support from the government," Putin said, according to Sputnik, adding that "various proposals" on the issue "are being discussed."

The Russian leader proposed that Japan and South Korea reflect on the creation of joint investment ventures with Russia to finance industrial and high-tech projects.

"They could focus on the financing of projects not only in agriculture but also in industry, in the sphere of high technologies and in the field of natural resources," Putin said, expressing confidence that "the Far East with its land resources is capable of becoming one of the leading suppliers of quality, ecologically pure food products for the Asia-Pacific Region, where almost 60 percent of our planet’s population live," Putin said, according to Sputnik.

Russia is ready to offer competitive energy prices for countries of the Asia-Pacific Region and wants to create an intergovernmental working group on the Asian energy super ring project.

"For a faster, more dynamic realization of this project [Asian energy ring] we are offering to create an intergovernmental working group. At the same time I want to stress that Russia is ready to offer our partners a competitive, in the Asia Pacific Region, price for electric energy and fix it for a long-term period," Russian President Vladimir Putin stated, according to Sputnik

Putin says that access to natural resources in the Far East should be linked to investment in their processing.