Updated September 4, 2008

    Russia and its partners in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) intend to launch joint projects in agriculture, high technologies, energy and in the social sphere.

   The opportunities of such projects will be discussed within the framework of the Baikal Economic Forum that takes place on September, 8-11 in Irkutsk, as the deputy chairman of the Federation Council Dmitry Mezentsev said.

   According to Mr. Mezentsev, the officials from China, Mongolia and Japan will take part in the Baikal Forum. Russia’s party is going to discuss the projects on energy with the Japanese partners, and with the Mongolian colleagues – the projects on the development of this country’s natural resources and the joint management of the Ulan Bator railway, as Mr. Mezentsev specified.

   However, neither of the parties is going to close the economic projects in the western direction, as the deputy chairman of the Federation Council reminded. Russia has to link the West and the countries of the Asia-Pacific Region using its favorable geographical position, and to benefit from the Europe-Russia-APR transport corridor.

   The new "internal" economic projects of the Russian Siberia will be offered to the Forum’s participants. Baikal, where at the moment the special economic area of the travel and recreation type is created, will be presented to the SCO management for the first time. The primary opportunities of the Russian region will be discussed as well. Such topics of the Forum’s plenary sessions as "The Role of Siberia and Far East in the Global Development" and "Siberia is the Land of Opportunities" will be discussed.

   However, the Forum’s participants will not concentrate on the calculations of Russia’s oil and gas deposits and furs reserves, as Mr. Mezentsev underlined. The Forum’s organizers are going to discuss the social problems of the region as well. Thus, as Mr. Mezentsev said, the key issue of the Forum will be "the social contract between the business and those people which reclaim Siberia". However, he didn’t specify, what kind of social burdens would be offered to the business and what kind of "a carrot" it can expect in return. Still, Mr. Mezentsev explained that in the today’s demographic situation in Russia’s region, when even those people leave who have been living here for years, the Russian government has to provide stimuli for these people to stay in Siberia. Otherwise, according to Mr. Mezentsev, Russia’s government has to admit that it can’t reclaim Siberia.

   Obviously, very interesting statements will be made and prospective decision will be taken within the Baikal Economic Forum. The level of the representation will be the highest. According to Mr. Mezentsev, Russia’s first vice prime minister Igor Shuvalov (recently he headed the commission on the preparation to the APEC summit in Vladivostok), vice prime minister Igor Sechin, the head of Russia’ Ministry for Economic Development and Trade Elvira Nabiullina and the minister of the region Dmitry Kozak are expected to give their speeches.