Thirteen agreements and memoranda signed at 6th Russia–Japan Investment Forum
On 19 March 2014, the 6th Russia–Japan Investment Forum opened in Tokyo. The event was jointly hosted in Tokyo (Japan) by the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation and the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry. The Russian Ministry of Agriculture also took part in the event, which was sponsored by the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum Foundation and the All Russia Public Organization Delovaya Rossiya (Business Russia).
More than 1,000 delegates took part in the 6th Russia–Japan Investment Forum, including leaders of major national corporations from both countries, business associations, and representatives from the regions and prefectures of Russia and Japan.
Alexey Likhachev, Russian Deputy Minister of Economic Development led the Russian delegation (which included more than 250 people). The Japanese delegation (with more than 700 people) was led by Hideo Suzuki, Director General of the Trade Policy Bureau, Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry.
The business programme included a panel session entitled ‘Improving the investment climate in Russia and opening new areas for investment cooperation between Russia and Japan’. Participants in the session included Igor Sechin, President of Rosneft; Rustam Minnikhanov, President of the Republic of Tatarstan; Ilya Shestakov, Russian Deputy Minister of Agriculture; Yury Lisin, First Vice President of Transneft; and Konstantin Ryzhkov, Director of the Russian Direct Investment Fund. The Japanese participants included Masahiro Sakane, lead representative of public-private partnerships in the sphere of promoting Russian-Japanese relations and Senior Advisor at Komatsu Ltd; Masami Iijima, Representative Director, President and Chairman of the Board, Mitsui & Co., Inc.; Masatoshi Ito, President and CEO, Ajinomoto Co., Inc.; Haruo Naito, President and CEO, Eisai Co., Ltd; and Tamotsu Saito, President and CEO, IHI Co., Ltd.
The following key themes were discussed at the event:
- Opening new areas for Russian–Japanese investment cooperation
- Progress in implementing a roadmap and the current status of improvement in Russia’s investment climate
- Infrastructural development in order to attract investment through special economic zones and industrial parks.
There were further industry-specific roundtable discussions across eight areas of interest at the current stage of development for Russian-Japanese economic relations.
There were 13 agreements and memoranda for future Russian–Japanese collaboration signed at the Forum. These include a framework credit agreement between the Japan Bank for International Cooperation JBIC and VTB Bank, and an Agreement of Intent regarding Russian grain export through the Russian Far East ports between the Marubeni Corporation, the FESCO Transportation Group and the United Grain Company.
There were direct business-to-business negotiations between Forum delegates following on from their visits to Japanese companies, including a waste incineration plant in the districts of Tokyo known as Special Wards, the Juntendo University Hospital, St. Luke’s International Hospital, and MHI Toshiba in Tokyo itself. The event’s exhibition included presentations of agricultural investment opportunities in Russia.
Delegates at the 6th Russia–Japan Investment Forum are invited to continue their discussions on future collaboration at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, on 22–24 May 2014.
