Foreign companies are ready to invest billions of dollars in the Russian economy
Despite attempts to economically isolate Russia, foreign investors are becoming more interested in cooperation with our country. In the first half of 2017, foreign direct investment reached $ 14 billion - more than double the figure for the same period last year. This was announced by the Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation Dmitry Medvedev at the 31st meeting of the Advisory Council on Foreign Investments in Russia. Participants of the FIAC discussed the proposals of foreign companies to simplify administrative procedures in various sectors of the Russian economy, including in the energy, pharmaceutical and agro-industrial sectors.
The Advisory Council on Foreign Investments in Russia was established in 1994 in accordance with a government decree. This permanent body reviews and prepares proposals on issues arising from foreign organizations when implementing investment projects in Russia. Now FIAS includes heads of 54 major international companies, including Exxon Mobil Corporation (USA), Mitsubishi Corporation (Japan), Nestle SA (Switzerland), PepsiCo (USA), Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. (Republic of Korea), Siemens AG (Germany), The Coca-Cola Company (USA), UniCredit (Italy) and many others. The chairman of the advisory council is Dmitry Medvedev.
- The Russian economy has completed the adaptation to the new conditions and challenges that it faced, and began to grow. The key indicators of the gross domestic product, and the volume of industrial production, freight turnover, exports and imports are also increasing. With different rates, but the dynamics are generally positive. We can confidently state that the Russian economy has entered a phase of growth. This is taking place against a background of record low inflation. It more and more corresponds to those frameworks which are characteristic for the developed countries. Since the beginning of the year, it has not exceeded 2%. According to Rosstat, about 1.7% - and in general for the year we expect moderate values - slightly more than 3%. Such a low level was not in the entire recent history of our country, "the head of government said.
The Prime Minister noted that positive changes in the economy are the result of the government's anti-crisis work, targeted support of key industries, moderate budgetary policy. The main approach remains an effective cost structure and implementation of development priorities.
"Despite attempts to economically isolate our country, there is growing interest in cooperation with Russia from foreign investors. Over the first half of the year, the volume of foreign direct investment has more than doubled compared to the same period last year. Significant contribution was made by representatives and members of our committee on foreign investment, "the prime minister added.
Dmitry Medvedev noted that the corporations included in the advisory council now implement more than 20 investment projects in various industries.
- Given the weight and scale of the companies that are represented here, of course, these are all the big projects - from energy to digital economy. New products are entering the market. The total investment contribution of the members of the FIAC for the entire period of the council's existence exceeded $ 165 billion. The geography of these projects covers more than 50 regions of the country. The inflow of investments became possible, among other things, thanks to purposeful work to improve the business climate. Many ideas, projects in this sphere were born thanks to the work of the expert groups of the advisory council, - said Dmitry Medvedev.
According to the Prime Minister, Russia has demonstrated record dynamics in the World Bank's Doing Business ranking. Over the past five years the country has advanced in it by more than 80 positions. Experts evaluated the simplification or acceleration of many procedures that are important at the start and maintenance of a new project.
In this rating, Russia rose from 124th place to 40th. In total, 190 countries are evaluated in Doing Business.
"This is very good, but it does not mean that the work can be completed and recognized fulfilled," Dmitry Medvedev stressed.
Following the meeting, Minister of Economic Development Maxim Oreshkin said that foreign direct investment in Russia in the first half of 2017 reached $ 14 billion. The head of the department said that the meeting was held with a general positive attitude.
- The economy began to recover, and economic growth began. The study by Ernst & Young showed that the number of investment projects being implemented in Russia this year reached the highest level in the whole history, the minister said.
At the meeting, the issue of sanctions against the heads of foreign corporations was not discussed, he said.
- Companies are actively working in Russia. Today, issues of economics and business were discussed. The political noise that exists around sanctions is receding into the background when it comes to money and investment productivity, - said Maxim Oreshkin.
At the September meeting of the Executive Committee of the FIAS, the Minister of Economic Development compared the situation in the Russian economy with the dynamics of the American economy in the first half of the 1980s. Then, in the US, low and stable inflation was achieved, this opened the way for a positive credit cycle that lasted 27 years. Following the meeting on October 16, Alexander Ivlev, managing partner for Russia of the audit company Ernst & Young, noted that foreign investments in Russia have recently been growing and there is hope for the continuation of this trend.