The Far East of Russia and the North-Eastern Asia: New Prospects and New Risks

Abstract

The modern development of the Far-Eastern region of Russia is closely related to the priority of accelerated solution of this problem for the national economy and the consistent implementation on this basis of the program of Russia's integration into the APR, economic «advance to the East». In 2013–2021, a significant number of governmental, sector and regional programs were devoted to the implementation of these tasks. However, the ongoing industrial, social, infrastructural and institutional transformations in the Far East have shown the difficulties of restructuring in traditional directions and the need to initiate new solutions. Some of them are determined by the support for fundamental changes in the future strategies of the world economic process, active restructuring of the economies of the North-Eastern Asia countries, including introducing “carbon regulation” as one of the imperatives of development. The latter are of a forced adaptive nature to the changing conditions of economic activity in the post-pandemic world, stimulating a number of spheres of interstate interaction, and limiting others. Still others are focused on the active proposal by Russia to the APR countries of new partnership opportunities through the implementation of high-cost infrastructure projects that create impulses for Russia's international cooperation (development of the railways of the Eastern range and the Northern sea route). At present, in each of the promising areas of development of the regional economy, landmarks have been outlined that make it possible to predict the effective results of their implementation. However, at the same time, these projects generate new risks that can hinder the achievement of the set goals. Their identification and accounting should be considered as an essential component of medium-term forecasting.