The Russian investment forum opened in Sochi. Senior officials of Russia and big business representatives joined on 27 Feb – 28 Feb 2017 to discuss the main directions of Russia’s policy, particularly in relation to investment in the regions. On the forum it was said about the development of the financial possibilities, the fate of small businesses, free and irrevocable “export intelligence”… – everything that can make the economy grow and more attractive for investment.
According to the speech of the Prime Minister D. A. Medvedev: “the fall of the gross domestic product stopped.” According to statistics, the real income of the population in 2016 has grown by +8% comparing to the previous year, inflation was 5.4%, production growth 1%. Significant growth was observed in agriculture (+4.8%) and food industry (+2.5%). In 2017 the volume of state support (grants and subsidies) will be increased by 200 billion rubles.
20 billion rubles will be allocated for grants to advanced regions. The government is going to invest this money effectively. In each region will be found “points of growth”, will be provided: the planned funding of regional infrastructure projects and expanding the so-called public-private partnership, development of a special investment areas (clusters, priority development areas, etc).
For example, Deputy economy Minister Oleg Fomichev drew attention to the programme of small and medium business, where the Ministry sees an effective tool for the development of the country and regions. Today the infrastructure is already created and is waiting for people to use it. This requires primarily the awareness of businessmen, through the network of multifunctional centers (MFC) and banks.
Most of the infrastructure projects dates back to Soviet times. Slow development of infrastructure projects is determined by the lack of “quality projects” and “cheap and long money”.
The Russian government is currently seeking ways of achieving world average growth rate of the economy. “But better, of course, is to reach above the global average,” expressed hope Dmitry Medvedev. In 2017 it is planned to achieve growth of +2%, and to reduce inflation to 4% per year. The forecast of the Ministry of economy, according to M. Oreshkin, will be released late in March.
The future of the Russian economy will become more clear after the creation of the “Comprehensive plan of actions of the Government for the period from 2017 to 2025,” which is currently under discussion. At the moment the name and common sense of its programs are discovered. The creation of a comfortable business environment will be understood by “Sustainable environment”, the creation of conditions for the development and enhancement of human resources by “Effective employment”, and the high-tech economy through a program of “Smart economy”.
Sources:
Russian government, Sochi forum, Ministry of Economy, Ministry of industry, Interfax
