Natalia Stapran: “The Prospects of Russian Economic Projects in Southeast Asia”

On October 21st, the second online-lecture within the framework of the course of public lectures “ASEAN Academic Days 2020” was held by the ASEAN Centre.

The second speaker was Dr. Natalia Stapran, MGIMO graduate 2000, Director of the Department for Multilateral Economic Cooperation and Special Projects, Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation. The meeting was moderated by Dr. Ekaterina Koldunova, Associate Professor at the Department of Asian and African Studies and ASEAN Centre’s Senior Expert.

The lecture was dedicated to the today’s economic cooperation between Russia and ASEAN and its future prospects. Dr. Natalia Stapran started her lecture with a short review of economic figures of the Southeast Asia and noted that in the near future the region can become the fourth global economy. The guest speaker also highlighted current trends in the region, namely digitalization, urbanization, development of the regional infrastructure and renewable energy. Part of the lecture was dedicated to the cooperation between ASEAN and Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC). Dr. Natalia Stapran informed the audience that so far, the EEC has signed free trade agreements with Vietnam and Singapore, as well as the negotiations with Indonesia and other ASEAN member-states are on underway.

The lecturer also presented the most successful joint economic projects on the basis of the Russia-ASEAN Strategic partnership. One of them is aimed at the development of cooperation in the sphere of “smart cities” and the introduction of new technologies into the urban area. The cooperation in the sphere of IT-technologies and new educational formats is developing extensively. In February 2020 the first “Robbo-club” was opened in Bangkok (Thailand). In the near future there are plans to open such clubs around the country. Among the new promising areas of cooperation is the joint activities aimed at supporting small and medium entrepreneurs (SME), which is considered as an engine of the economic growth of a number of ASEAN member-states. In the context of the upcoming 4th industrial revolution and the transformation of the labor market, the ASEAN side is interested in Russia’s experience in training specialists with digital knowledge and skills.

The lecture was followed by a Q&A Session. The questions were devoted to such topics as bilateral economic cooperation between Russian and a number of ASEAN countries, the impact of COVID-19 on the development of Russia-ASEAN trade cooperation, future prospects of the Russian infrastructure projects in Vietnam and the assessment of the first results of the ASEAN-EEC Cooperation.

Among the attendances were students and professors from MGIMO and other top Russian universities (MSU IAAS, HSE, FEFU, RSUH, RANEPA). The online-format of the meeting made it possible to engage a number of participants from different countries (Russia, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia).