Growing interest in Russia in Asia reflects credit on Eastern Economic Forum — official

MOSCOW, August 25. /TASS/. The Eastern Economic Forum (EEF) has boosted interest in Russia across Asia amid phenomenal changes in the global economy, with Asian economists advocating for the restoration of full-fledged relations with Moscow, Anton Kobyakov, Adviser to the Russian President, Executive Secretary of the Forum’s Organizing Committee, said in an interview with TASS ahead of the event.

"The experts pointing to the phenomenal changes in the global economy that have taken place over the past year, are right. Some even link them to the ‘unpublished’ part of the ‘spirit of Anchorage’, hinting at certain ‘closed-door’ agreements between (Russian President - TASS) Vladimir Putin and (US President Donald - TASS) Trump. They are driven by the fact that global shifts have ‘bypassed’ Europe, leaving it on the fading periphery of new trends whose epicenter has shifted to Asia and the Pacific region as a whole," he said.

Specifically, AI technologies serve as an example, with the rivalry between the leading powers, China and the US, taking center stage, Kobyakov added. "Interest in Russia is growing in Asia, and the EEF deserves significant credit for this. For example, a discussion that unfolded in the run-up to the forum in South Korea is telling: a number of economists there not only advocate for the restoration of full-fledged, mutually beneficial relations with Russia but also cite as a condition for this the country’s departure from the US orbit and the resumption of the pragmatic course that the Democrats currently in power in Seoul pursued under the previous president, Moon Jae-in," he stressed.

The Eastern Economic Forum will be held September 1-4 in Vladivostok on the campus of the Far Eastern Federal University. The main theme of this year’s EEF is "The Far East: Development for the Benefit of People." The event is organized by the Roscongress Foundation with the support of the Russian government. TASS is its general information partner.