Russia's Ministry of Industry and Trade (Ministry of Industry and Trade) suggested that countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) should strengthen export relations in engineering, aviation, chemical industry and IT at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.

"We would highlight several key areas where relations can be strengthened. The main industry is mechanical engineering, including automobile manufacturing. ASEAN countries have quite high competences in terms of component base production, but Russia also has a long tradition of manufacturing finished products for various purposes: road, automobile equipment, passenger cars and trucks," Russia's Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Alexei Gruzdev told the EAEC-ASEAN session.

According to him, Russia has created quite a good infrastructure in this direction. For instance, such companies as Kamaz and Gaz today successfully supply their products to certain ASEAN member states: to Laos, Cambodia, the Philippines and Vietnam. The latter has a joint assembly facility for Gaz vehicles in operation.

Aviation

Another area is the aviation industry. According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, Russia can offer ASEAN countries not only planes, but also helicopters for the operation of various services.

"We propose to consider options not only for modern, but also for regional aircraft, general aviation aircraft. These are small-capacity aircraft from 18 to 40 seats, which would be very much in demand in inter-regional and intra-regional traffic, especially in those states with a large number of islands. These are ambulance, rescue and coastal monitoring and firefighting helicopters. The peculiarity of our proposals is not a "buy-and-sell" relationship, but the readiness to conduct comprehensive cooperation, including the organization of after-sales service, establishment of service centers and opportunities for integration of local producers into the overall production chain," the deputy head of the ministry said.

Products for agriculture

The third direction, which is considered promising in the Ministry of Industry and Trade to strengthen exports, is the chemical industry. According to the ministry, today almost all ASEAN member countries buy Russian fertilizers. In the future, this cooperation can be deepened and transformed into the implementation of entire scientific programs, the ministry believes.

"We can talk about comprehensive cooperation not only in terms of supplies, but also in the implementation of scientific programs, including with farmers to improve the quality, efficiency of fertilizer use and raise the level of preparedness," said Alexei Gruzdev.

Medical preparations and technologies

The topic of medicine has become more relevant than ever in the last two years, so one obvious area is pharmaceuticals and medical technology, said Gruzdev.

"Sputnik V is becoming well known in Southeast Asia, and a number of countries have already registered the vaccine. In particular, Laos, Vietnam, Myanmar, the Philippines," the deputy minister noted, noting that along with this, medical technology transfer is possible.

IT solutions

Among other things, Russia is ready to offer its latest developments and solutions in digital technology.

"We are ready to offer our modern solutions for information security, organization of security systems in the city, in transport, the system of emergency equipment, satellite navigation. We have developments and examples of successful cooperation of our companies, including Kaspersky Lab, InfoWatch, in ASEAN countries," the representative of the agency said.

Earlier, it was reported that Russia's trade turnover with ASEAN countries is about $16 billion, of which one-third is Russian exports and two-thirds is imports from ASEAN countries.

The St. Petersburg International Economic Forum is taking place from June 2 to 5. This year's theme is "Together Again. The Economy of New Reality". The event is organized by the Roscongress Foundation.

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Karina Kamalova