Monday, December 17, 2007 Russia-Asean draft projects
THE Russian Government expressed last Friday strong interest in tapping the huge potential of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) bloc, particularly in relation to trade and tourism.
Representatives of the Russian federation and Asean member countries converged for the sixth Asean-Russia Joint Cooperation Committee in Cebu last Dec. 13 to 14.
The meeting reviewed the implementation of the Comprehensive Program of Action (CPA) to promote the Asean-Russia cooperation from 2005 to 2015.
Discussions on priority areas for cooperation included culture, tourism, energy, disaster management, counter terrorism, and science and technology.
During the two-day committee meeting, Russian and Asean member representatives agreed on six projects under the CPA.
These projects include teaching the Russian language to tour operators, teaching the English language to Russians, promotion of free trade among small and medium enterprises, renewable energy, setting up of an institute in Moscow at the State University for International Relations to promote Asean publications to Russian students, and establishing an Asean-Russia website.
“The Asia Pacific region is the region of the future. The region is growing rapidly and the Asean countries play an active role,” said Bakhtier Khakimov, director-general of the Department of Asean and Asia Pacific Affairs, from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation.
Recognizing the major contribution of the Asean countries to world economy, Khamikov said the Russian Government has agreed to set aside $500,000 to finance the six projects under the CPA.
Ready
Luis Cruz, Asean-Philipppines director-general, said the amount has already been transferred to the Asean Secretariat as representatives are now finalizing the implementation of the projects.
“In principle, they are ready,” he told a press conference, adding that once details are ironed out, the projects will be implemented “as soon as possible.”
Cruz said the Russian Government has agreed to allocate more than $500,000 for other Asean-Russia projects for 2008 and 2009.
Khakimov said that while the Asia Pacific region “contributes 40 percent of the world’s gross domestic product,” its potentials, particularly the Asean countries, are largely “under-utilized.”
Citing official records, Khakimov said Asean-Russia trade only amounted to $5 billion last year, compared to the $10 billion and $40 billion it traded with India and China, respectively.
Among the Asean member countries, he said the bulk of Russian trade is concentrated only in Indonesia and Malaysia, leaving the Philippines and other member-nations to be largely untapped despite their “huge” potentials.
Philippine exports, like tropical fruits, vodka and furniture pieces from Cebu, were identified as having prospective markets in Russia.
In the area of tourism, Cruz admitted that the Philippines lagged behind other Southeast Asian countries in attracting Russian tourists.
He said that while there are about 15,000 Russian visitors to the Philippines annually, this is small compared to the more than 100,000 Russians visiting a single resort in Thailand every year.
This, he said may be due to the accessibility of Bangkok, Thailand to Moscow, Russia via a direct flight between these countries.
“The Philippine representative from the Department of Tourism assured he will take the matter on the possibility of opening a route,” Cruz said.
Opening a direct flight, he said, will “open more doors of opportunities” for trade and tourism between Russia and the Philippines.
Cruz also mentioned that the Asean bloc will work closely with the Russian Federation on projects concerning renewable energy.
Russia, he noted, is the world’s leading producer of natural gas and the second world producer of oil, next to Saudi Arabia.
“On the Russian side, we are very interested in working together with the Asean in all these fields,” Khakimov said.
The next meeting of the Asean-Russia Joint Cooperation Committee will be held in Russia in autumn 2008. (MMM)
