OREANDA-NEWS. December 26, 2008.  RUSSIAN PRESIDENT DMITRY MEDVEDEV: Good morning, dear colleagues!  I would like to begin by specifying the goals of the joint meeting of the State Council and the Security Council of the Russian Federation. There are several goals.

The first goal is to determine our main challenges, based on the strategic reference points of our country in the CIS region and the accepted framework for the long-term development of our nation.

The second goal is to discuss specific measures for countering the global crisis and its influence on the Commonwealth members, as well as strengthening regional security. 

And finally, the third goal: we must decide on a constantly-functioning mechanism for coordinating this kind of work.

We can state directly that cooperation with CIS countries has a unique, high-priority importance for our country. The key challenge is to ensure that Russia has stable and amicable surroundings, and to also use  common advantages with these countries to encourage the growth of our country’s competitive advantage, to successfully integrate into regional and global processes and, of course, to develop full-fledged humanitarian ties and guarantee rights of our compatriots. 

The binding nucleus of the CIS consists of organizations such as the CSTO [Collective Security Treaty Organization] and EurAsEC [EuroAsian Economic Community]. They have already become real factors of economic growth, and they already provide regional security, and measures for fighting terrorism, crime, and drug trafficking, thus also promoting regular development of diverse contacts and the launch of new models for cooperation.  

Our strategy in the CIS region is defined in the Foreign Policy Concept, which was adopted this summer.  Interregional relations are the main focus of this concept.  Most of the regions in our country can be viewed as near-border because of their position. They count millions of people among their citizens, and their relations with their neighbours directly determine the nature and the very content of intergovernmental relations.

Now I will talk about the main challenges of multiregional interactions with CIS countries.

The first challenge is that now, when we have already adopted a concept for the development of our country until the year 2020, this cooperation must become an instrument for long-term policy in the CIS region. We must look for strategic prospects in these relationships, and we must not limit ourselves to the known and well-established models for this sort of interaction.

Second, interregional relations can become an important factor in reacting to crises, which have already been having a negative influence on the economy in all CIS countries. And here, I mean not only the cooperative actions for mitigating the crisis, although that is also necessary; I am also referring to the creation of new institutes and mechanisms of development.

In any event, the crisis will end, and we must be prepared to launch new projects with our neighbours. There was an array of resolutions for this issue, which we made together, including those made in November at the State Council session; it is already necessary to report on them.

In addition to this, during the latest summit, at the last meeting of the heads of state in Kazakhstan, we also considered an array of solutions, including the creation of a special fund for reacting to the crisis, as well as the creation of a centre for high technology.

And finally, our third major challenge is to improve the legislation regulating regional foreign relations. We must help create the necessary legal base for productive work with our partners. Today, we have hundreds of agreements with the regions, and almost everyone present here has, in one way or another, signed such an agreement at some point. But the main problem, of course, lies in their practical implementation and, naturally, the fulfilment of the agreements’ obligations.

We also have positive experiences – first and foremost, they are related to questions of regional interaction, regional cooperation with Kazakhstan. Every year, a trans-border forum is held. Already this year, it will be held in the format of a more global forum for international cooperation, and it will include more than the border regions. There have also been certain achievements in Russian-Belarusian relations in interregional cooperation.

It is necessary to not only expand the borders for the market of goods, services, and capital that is available to us, but heading for innovation development that we have chosen, also to promote the creation of new niches for cooperation with other countries. This includes joint exploration of natural resources, and the use of human resources and common infrastructure of the CIS countries. Currently, given the circumstances of reduced imports from distant countries, this may be particularly relevant.

New possibilities are also created through the formation of a customs union between Russia, Kazakhstan, and Belarus. It is certainly capable of becoming the basis for forming a common economic area for the CIS. Today, we have all the prerequisites to do this rapidly, to unify the customs tariffs and administrative regulations by January 1, 2010, and even create special supranational agencies.

A serious factor in the development and reinforcement of stability in the CIS may be the formation of a new international financial centre in Russia. We formulated this goal some time ago, and as you know, it is still on the agenda, regardless of the crisis. On the contrary, given the global financial crisis, there may be an opportunity to use it to achieve more rapid results. It may provide access to financial resources and stimulate new investments. 

There are multifaceted formats for interregional cooperation in the context of the so-called Euro-regions; we should be conscious of them as well.

Thus, today we will look at all the issues regarding these types of relations in order to give them new momentum. You know, of course, how motivated our people are to develop business and cultural contacts and to have amicable interactions with CIS countries – countries with which we have close connections in terms of history and proximity. And it is in our power to provide tangible help.