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President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Good afternoon, colleagues,

First of all, I would like to thank you for the practical success that the Agency for Strategic Initiatives has achieved in various spheres. I will not list everything but will instead go over the things that I think are the most important.

Over its seven years of work, the Agency has become a real centre of attraction for energetic and proactive people throughout almost the entire country.

I am aware that about half a million people, including the Leaders Club community, are already involved in the projects supported and initiated by the Agency.

You help remove barriers and open the path to implementing thousands of ideas in entrepreneurship, creation of advanced technologies, education and social sphere. Of course, this work must continue, especially since its content and meaning are consistent with the tasks mentioned in the Address to the Federal Assembly as priority areas of our development.

As part of the national technology initiative, it is necessary to provide conditions for rapid introduction of new developments in production, to support start-ups and high-tech companies, to create breakthrough products, including in the digital economy, and to facilitate their access to global markets.

Together with innovators, researchers and entrepreneurs, it is necessary to draft proposals for removing legal barriers to the creation and wide application of robotics, artificial intelligence, and unmanned vehicles. It is necessary to continue to work on developing professional competencies consistent with the technological breakthrough needs and the tasks facing the digital economy.

We agreed that your projects, the WorldSkills movement experience, will serve as a foundation for modernising secondary vocational education and as a basis for developing a modern career guidance system for students and extracurricular education, including in science and technology.

Thanks to the Agency for Strategic Initiatives, children’s technoparks, or quantoriums, have opened in 37 regions. The Atlas of Emerging Jobs has also proved popular. By the way, we plan to extend the quantorium practice to a total of 51 Russian regions this year.

As I said, the Ticket To The Future project will also receive one billion rubles from the state budget. It will be launched in the next academic year.

Next. Relying on local entrepreneurs, it is necessary to continue creating a favourable business climate in Russia’s regions. As part of the national entrepreneurial initiative, we have significantly updated the law and eliminated many excessive barriers. But it is very important to constantly move forward. I have just had a meeting with women entrepreneurs. They raised some very specific questions and practical issues that need to be resolved. All this must be thoroughly reviewed based on the national investment climate rating and the audit of local law enforcement practices.

It is necessary to help the regions to implement target models for improving the business environment. Special efforts must be applied to supporting social initiatives aimed at improving the quality of life. This includes creating comfortable conditions for people with disabilities. Such projects are proposed by socially-oriented non-profit and business organisations. Barriers in the way of their activity must be removed, best practices must be widely promoted. Of course, it is important to further develop the initiatives that help create the spirit of mutual help and ensure the continuity of essential values in society.

We will certainly continue working with you on supporting the volunteer movement. It is necessary to assist authorities at all levels with creating comfortable and clear conditions for volunteers’ work.

I would like to specifically address the development of the Mentorship movement. I believe it is one of the agency’s key objectives. We understand how important it is to pass on not only expertise but also love for your job, from hand to hand, from heart to heart.

Let us start. Please.

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Vladimir Putin: This is what I would like to say in conclusion. I am very pleased that the initiative made in 2012 did not fall flat and did not become idle talk, that this is a project that has really been carried out and is making a tangible contribution not only to the promotion of specific projects but also to the improvement of the business environment in general. It is also working in several areas, including social issues, that have just been mentioned here.

But the main point is that it is fulfilling its main goal that was formulated when the Agency was established, notably, it is improving the business environment, facilitating the development of business in various sectors and doing so efficiently.

And what matters is not even that our ratings are going up but that our business associations, including those whose heads are present here, are seeing a change for the better. Of course, this is not only the result of the Agency’s work but also a result of your own work. I would like to thank all of you for this. I would like to thank former Head of the ASI Andrei Nikitin and Svetlana Chupsheva for taking the reins firmly in her hands and continuing with all the projects.

I would like to ask members of the ASI Supervisory Board to continue supporting ASI with the same enthusiasm. All initiatives that have been completed or are being implemented and were noted in Ms Chupsheva’s report as accounting items are by all means accepted.

And the main point is that the plans that you are making and we are discussing certainly follow the current economic trend and will enjoy the most active support both from the Presidential Executive Office and the Government.

So I would like to thank all of you very much.