INTEGRATING RUSSIA INTO THE ASIAN ECONOMY.

A delegation headed by Arkady Volsky, a leading Russian industrialist, yesterday presented to Japanese business leaders attending a three-day forum in Tokyo a long-range program of development for the Russian Far East. The major goals of the program, which is to unfold in three stages between 1996 and 2005, are to hold down the region’s energy and transportation prices, develop export-oriented industries, and to integrate the Russian Far East into the world economy. Special attention is also to be given to reorienting Russian machine-building and defense enterprises. The total cost of the program was estimated at 371 trillion rubles (over $70 billion), of which the Russian government is expected to contribute only a small portion. (Itar-Tass, March 28)

In Moscow, meanwhile, Russian foreign trade minister Oleg Davydov said yesterday that the Kremlin had designated markets in the Asia-Pacific region as a priority target for Russian exporters and that Moscow’s emphasis would be on promoting "engineering and research-intensive products." He suggested that the government would be more active in offering assistance to promote trade and economic cooperation with Asia-Pacific countries, including implementing large-scale investment projects, technical exchanges, and coproduction arrangements. Davydov identified China as Russia’s main strategic partner in the region. (Itar-Tass, March 28)

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