TRADE MINISTER EMPHASIZES NEW "STRATEGIC LINE."

Moscow plans to emphasize Russian trade links with Asia in the coming decades, Foreign Trade Minister Oleg Davydov declared yesterday. Confirming Russia’s avowed intent to reorient itself toward the east, Davydov said the new "strategic line" had been approved by Boris Yeltsin. While South Korea and Pakistan figure in Moscow’s plans, Davydov said Russia’s efforts will focus on the three Asian states that traded extensively with the Soviet Union in the past and retain Soviet-built infrastructures: China, India, and Iran. Russia’s overall trade with Asia is estimated at $20 billion a year, representing more than one-quarter of its total trade volume. Trade with China is presently rebounding after a sharp decline. According to the Ministry of Foreign and Economic Relations, machinery and other industrial hardware currently account for 85 percent of Russian exports to Iran and 20 percent to China. (6)

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