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Before the meeting, the President watched a presentation of the implementation of long-term socioeconomic development plans for cities in Russia’s Far East at the Pacific State University.

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President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Good afternoon.

It is beautiful here, the sun is shining and the weather is wonderful.

Meeting moderator Chairman of the Delovaya Rossiya National Public Organisation Alexei Repik: Mr President, this is because the year 2024 has begun, and we have just celebrated Christmas. I would like to offer my greetings to everyone, you and all our business leaders.

Vladimir Putin: Thank you.

Alexei Repik: Indeed, this is a wonderful day, perhaps because the Pacific State University trains entrepreneurs, they come here and everything immediately becomes…

Vladimir Putin: Becomes charged.

Alexei Repik: Charged with energy.

First of all, of course, I must thank you for taking the time to meet with us here today. Ten years have passed since we launched a development programme for the Far East, we are marking its 10^th anniversary in 2024, and it is great that your visit will, in effect, launch its business agenda.

Vladimir Putin: Excuse me for interrupting you. I recall the beginning of these programmes and I remember that the mood was rather sour because we said: Now we will do this and that, we will develop the shipbuilding industry, and so on. Everything has inertia and it was very hard to make the first steps. People were waiting; it seemed like nothing was happening, and yet progress is now evident in the Russian Far East, which makes us happy. We owe this primarily to people like you, who are proactive in joining this effort.

Alexei Repik: In fact, this was probably what we were thinking, because you said in 2013 that an economic rise of the Russian Far East will be our priority for the entire 21^st century. Later, incidentally, you spent the New Year holidays here, in Khabarovsk, for some less pleasant reasons. However, things started to take off after that in 2024, including the programme for priority development of the Russian Far East, which was created and launched by Mr Trutnev’s team, who did a fantastic job. Everyone knows this. I am not praising them for nothing. But everyone present here said: great job!

Each of them is truly a hero, both those who created the programme and its participants. However, before that, the prevailing mood was rather grim. Your remarks, Mr Putin, are absolutely on point. And if we go back to the 1990s, the logic, basically, was that there is nothing to be done here, no prospects. Those of you who represent the fisheries industry, please don’t take offense. You were doing well even in the 1990s, but some people emigrated and others left for Central Russia, etc. The most determined ones underwent a sort of positive selection and stayed here. Many of them got the chance to see their dream come true and implement their ideas after 2014, when the programme was launched.

This room is too small for all the entrepreneurs involved in the development programme, but each participant in this meeting has a lot to be proud of.

We are celebrating an anniversary – 10 years – and I think that the entrepreneurs can draw some interim results. Tentatively, I would like to outline three main themes for the next 10-year stage of development, and I want those who will speak after me to reflect on them. I will keep it brief.

First of all – and I think this has become obvious to everyone – the Russian economy is a very, very resilient entity that can adapt, but most importantly, it is now growing at a pace that surprises even us. According to this year’s preliminary forecast, growth will amount to 3.5 percent of GDP. This is significantly higher than the global average. But Business Russia analysts believe that by the end of the year, when final calculations are made, growth will definitely be higher than 4 percent.

Vladimir Putin: More than 4 percent?

Alexei Repik: More than 4 percent. We will see, of course, but…

Vladimir Putin: Maybe, yes. Prime Minister Mishustin told me before I left here that we had also estimated the decline in 2022 at 2.1 percent, but it actually turned out to be only 1.2 percent. So…

Alexei Repik: Worry always makes things look worse.

Vladimir Putin: Economic indicators are being recalculated; it is an ongoing process. So maybe GDP growth will be higher.

Alexei Repik: We will see.

Now look, Mr President, where this is going. We are Europe’s leading economy in terms of purchasing power parity, and the fifth largest economy in the world – and yet, the gap between Russia and Japan is so small that if we maintain this growth rate, or even if we just keep moving forward smoothly, we will overtake Japan soon.

Vladimir Putin: Yes, this is an amazing result. Apparently, with all the external pressure on Russia, the attempts to constrict us, we have become the biggest economy in Europe, overtaking Germany, and fifth in the world after China, the United States, India, and Japan. We are number one in Europe.

Alexei Repik: Frankly, I would not bet on the Japanese right now, not with any odds.

Vladimir Putin: Why not?

Alexei Repik: Because we will definitely overtake them.

Vladimir Putin: Like many European economies, Japan is a high-tech economy. We have overtaken every European economy in terms of purchasing power parity, but not yet in per capita terms. We will have to work more on this.

Alexei Repik: Most importantly, we need more people. One of our speakers will definitely talk about this today.

What does this mean for businesses? On the one hand, the economy is growing rapidly, but on the other hand, we still have a large share of imports, more than 20 percent of the economy – 21 or 22 percent, I am not sure, but it is 33 trillion rubles. I remember the figure for the imports.

Vladimir Putin: Thirty-three trillion rubles?

Alexei Repik: Thirty-three trillion rubles. And now look, colleagues: 33 trillion rubles, plus how much the Far East is buying from Central Russia – the market capacity is very impressive. There is undoubtedly something to think about investing in.

Now the second leitmotif. Our foreign economic vector has actually turned eastward. This is no longer just a declaration; it just happened. And the growing economies of Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam, and of course, our main foreign economic partner, the People’s Republic of China, cannot be neglected.

Mr President, you and the President of China have set a goal of boosting mutual trade to $200 billion.

Vladimir Putin: In 2024.

Alexei Repik: Yes. We achieved this goal last autumn. I cannot say how much it will actually be – 230–240 billion, but something like that.

By the way, it is quite telling that of these $240 billion, I think that over 90 percent of trade takes place in national currencies. This means that these dollars have become rudimental, a relic that we cling to as a reference point, while using the ruble and the yuan. Therefore, the potential export volumes here are truly impressive.

Third, Mr President, they were supposed to show the Khabarovsk master plan at this point. Have they?

Vladimir Putin: Yes, and it is very interesting.

Alexei Repik: There are other cities in Russia’s Far East too, setting new standards and offering not just a new quality of life for their residents, but also creating ample business opportunities. Consequently, all these projects must be built, and we must ensure their maintenance so that everything runs smoothly.

I walked along the boulevards here and realised that even in Khabarovsk there is a lot of potential.

Vladimir Putin: Why did you say “even in Khabarovsk?” Is this your first time here?

Alexei Repik: Yes, I have not visited Khabarovsk before, but I have been travelling to the Eastern Economic Forum.

Vladimir Putin: To Vladivostok.

Alexei Repik: Everything is quite clear over there. But here, in Khabarovsk – I was amazed to discover this city. Overall, I really liked it.

You know, Mr President, the three points that I mentioned, these three blocks, could serve as a new incentive, a new vision for scaling up our investment. Everyone present here today invests in Russia’s Far East, and has been quite successful at that, and many of us here have been thinking about setting even higher goals.

Vladimir Putin: What about you and your company?

Alexei Repik: Mr President, I can answer this question later, off camera, if you give me a minute.

I can say that it is always a pleasure to invest at home in your homeland. Moreover, I think that Russian businesses have been inoculated against investing abroad and this vaccine will remain effective for decades to come. This has been my experience too. This is why we will invest at home, just as you have said. This is what we must do.

Vladimir Putin: I have been saying this all along.

Alexei Repik: And we remember everything you say.

For this reason, our goal today is to switch into an even higher gear and move even faster. We must put the time when we were timid and modest in our aspirations behind us by becoming bolder and more assertive.

If you allow me, I would like to give the floor to our first brave speaker.

Vladimir Putin: Yes, of course, but before we do, let me say that business leaders are result-driven and focused on their businesses. They look at what is happening here and now, and at their near-term prospects. However, if you have any broader proposals or ideas regarding people who do business here or live here, or have their families here, etc., go ahead and share them. If you have a forward-looking vision or any interesting proposals, they are very much welcome and I would be grateful for your input. There are of course current issues too.

Alexei Repik: Colleagues, you have heard what Mr President has just said, so now your task is to rethink what you wanted to say along these lines in order to emphasise the most cherished aspirations you have and present them in your remarks.

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