Number of Japanese Firms in Russia's Priority Development Areas to Grow

The number of Japanese companies working in Russia’s priority development areas, as well as in the medicine and fishery sectors will increase, the head of the ROTOBO, a representative of the Japan Association for Trade with Russia and the Newly Independent States, told Sputnik on Friday.

VLADIVOSTOK (Sputnik) – JGC, which is an engineering company specializing in oil and natural gas plants, is currently constructing a factory for greenhouse cultivation of vegetables in Russia’s Khabarovsk.

"I think that the number of Japanese companies who will come to the priority development areas will increase, as there is a good precedent already – the large JGC Corporation which works in the region," Shigeru Murayama said on the sidelines of the Eastern Economic Forum.

"Their business is developing very successfully in Khabarovsk, and they are planning to develop in this direction in Sakha… Japanese companies are also interested in successful examples in medicine and fishery," Murayama said.

Japan sees that the development of Russia’s Far East is now in the stage of implementation, the head of the ROTOBO, Murayama said.

The second Eastern Economic Forum (EEF) is taking place on September 2-3 on the campus of Russia’s Far Eastern Federal University on Russky Island.

"Seeing as I took part in the forum last year, I see changes that have taken place during the year. This is the creation of the Free port of Vladivostok, the development of priority development areas, an emergence of great numbers of residents there. The Japanese side sees that the development of Far East has gone from the stage of preparation to the stage of implementation," Shigeru Murayama said on the sidelines of the forum.

According to the official, the number of Japanese delegates at this year’s forum doubled as compared to last year’s event.

The Russian government has approved the creation of 13 priority development areas (PDA) in the Far East since the law on PDAs came into force in early 2015. The law seeks to develop Russia's remote regions by providing tax breaks and other benefits to PDA resident companies, thus spurring investment.

The second Eastern Economic Forum (EEF) is taking place on September 2-3 on the campus of Russia’s Far Eastern Federal University on Russky Island.