“I am sure that the ambitious plans we will discuss today will be put into practice. In this work we must rely above all on our citizens, on the people, supporting their desire for self-fulfilment professionally , in business and in public activities for the good of the Russian nation.” Vladimir Putin At an inter-regional conference of United Russia
Vladimir Putin’s speech at the conference:
Good afternoon, friends and colleagues,
It is my great pleasure to greet you all here in the Urals. The Urals by right embodies the hinterland and fundamental power of our country, and the huge creative power and energy of our nation...
“I am sure that the ambitious plans we will discuss today will be put into practice. In this work we must rely above all on our citizens, on the people, supporting their desire for self-fulfilment professionally , in business and in public activities for the good of the Russian nation.”
Vladimir Putin At an inter-regional conference of United Russia
Vladimir Putin’s speech at the conference:
Good afternoon, friends and colleagues,
It is my great pleasure to greet you all here in the Urals. The Urals by right embodies the hinterland and fundamental power of our country, and the huge creative power and energy of our nation. The people of the Urals are not afraid to set themselves grand and ambitious goals and they can achieve results. I am sure that the ambitious plans we will discuss today will be put into practice. In this work we must rely above all on our citizens, on the people, supporting their desire for self-fulfilment professionally, in business and in public activities for the good of the Russian nation.
Colleagues, in working out a plan for the development of the Urals we must make the best of its competitive advantages, but we must clearly identify the problems and the “bottlenecks”, so to speak, that impede the region’s sustained development.
Many of our common, systemic problems manifest themselves in the Urals in the most concentrated form. For example, the regional economy in the Urals is still unfortunately poorly diversified and is anchored to the export of commodities and low value-added goods, which means that it is excessively dependent on all sorts of market fluctuations.
To this one must add the shortage of a modern infrastructure, above all transport, which affects the quality of life and prevents many promising projects from being launched. That is natural and understandable. If there is a road there is life, business and economic activities develop; if there are no roads, everything is at a standstill even if there are, for example, major mineral deposits that can be developed.
We face major imbalances inherited from the past. Plants were built, mineral deposits were developed but unfortunately we forgot… well, there is no point in criticising the past – perhaps at the time we could not afford to do these things, could not think about creating modern conditions for people’s lives and addressing environmental issues. And the legacy of the times when people lived in barracks and make-shift dwellings is dragging us backward.
We have no right to and will not proceed in this way in modern conditions. We cannot and will not seek development at any cost neglecting the interests of the citizens. We should concentrate on several strategic areas.
First, the improvement of the social infrastructure and the creation of comfortable and decent living conditions for our people. People really need it.
Beginning from 2009 the Urals area reported a natural population growth (this is very good news which I would like to share with you, though many of you already know it). Let me stress that we are looking at a natural growth, i.e. the birth rate exceeds the death rate. In 2010 the number of births exceeded the number of deaths by 8.6%.
We should target our industrial and infrastructure policy and develop the region’s economy in such a way as to open up new opportunities for people, to create well-paid jobs and to make sure that industrial projects do not generate environmental risks.
Second, it is necessary to significantly expand the economic base of the Urals Federal District, to ensure its stability by creating promising innovative centres, industrial clusters to support small and medium businesses, developing new sectors, for example, tourism, the nanoindustry, pharmaceutics and the services.
During the interregional conference in Volgograd in May a proposal was made to create a Strategic Initiatives Agency. Already more than 800 projects from practically all the Russian regions have been submitted through the Agency’s website. It is my particular pleasure to note today that the Sverdlovsk Region has provided the largest number of projects, almost a third of the total number (applause).
I will applaud you too, because this is your achievement. I think it would be fair if we set up the Agency’s first regional office here in Yekaterinburg.
The proposed projects are currently the subjects of public discussion and evaluation by experts. Some of the ideas are indeed very promising and interesting, including in the social sphere. For example, organising a regional network of private kindergartens, the production of equipment for the rehabilitation of children with limited abilities.
Incidentally, ten days ago the deadline ran out for accepting applications for the post of the Agency’s director-general and branch directors. About 1,000 applications are being considered. We can already see many bright and talented people with wonderful ideas among the candidates. We will soon review the results of the contest. I am planning to conduct a meeting of the Expert Council that would include the winners of the contest after July 20. During that meeting we could also decide on who will be the head of the Agency and who will be members of the Supervisory Council. The Agency should start work as early as August.
I would like to thank all those who have exhibited interest in the idea of creating that structure and have been willing to test themselves in tough competition. Regardless of the contest’s results each of the applicants will be involved in the Agency’s work and in forming its regional network.
The Innovative Industrial Forum Innoprom-2011 will be held in Yekaterinburg in two weeks’ time. I think it would be right to invite to that forum all those who have taken part in the contest and are planning to work with the Agency. It would provide a good opportunity for them to establish direct contacts, to discuss shared tasks and problems.
I would like to ask the administration of the Sverdlovsk Region to assist with organisational matters. For our part we will render all the necessary support. I have no doubt that projects emanating from the Urals Federal District will be included among the Strategic Initiatives Agency’s early pilot projects.
Third. The effectiveness of the sectors that spearhead the district’s economy must be improved dramatically. These are the fuel and energy sector, metals, engineering and the defence industry. Profound technological modernisation must continue in these sectors to ensure their entry into new markets.
And, fourth, it is necessary to substantially upgrade the district’s infrastructure: transport, the power industry, housing and utilities, road-building and repair. There has been some progress here in recent years. The key federal highways Ural and Baikal, which pass through the territory of the Urals Federal District and link it to the European part of Russia, Siberia and the Far East, are being modernised.
more to be posted soon...
источник новости: http://premier.gov.ru/eng/events/news/15751/
