Russian economy growth outpaces global rates: Entrepreneurship Day at the RUSSIA EXPO

---

During the plenary session of the Entrepreneurship Day at the RUSSIA EXPO, First Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Andrei Belousov noted the great strides the country's economy has made in recent years. Among the most important results he emphasized the renewal of the domestic industry - 85% of the industrial capacities operating in the country today were created over the last two decades. At the same time, industrial production volumes have grown 2.5 times in comparison with 2000.

One of the most important factors that made it possible to achieve such a result was the consistent improvement of the business climate in the country.

"All these achievements show that today we have created a solid sustainable base for solving any tasks and overcoming any challenges that our country faces or may face," said Andrei Belousov.

The key factor for increasing wages and overcoming restrictions in the labor market is the growth of labor productivity, he also said.

"Just in January-February we considered the creation of a nationwide network of labor productivity growth with the participation of the digital platform efficiency.rf. This is one of the elements in the structure of the national project "Labor Productivity". The platform includes optimization of customer paths, corporate management systems, digital transformation of medium and large enterprises, and building the competence of the workforce. Only by increasing productivity will we be able to overcome labor market constraints and maintain wage growth rates. Currently, the Ministry of Economic Development is working very hard to create a system to achieve these goals," said Andrei Belousov.

On the platform efficiency.rf it is possible to diagnose an enterprise free of charge by taking a questionnaire and consulting with an expert. He will help to determine the level of digital maturity, show the position in relation to competitors with similar turnover and number of employees, and work out an individual plan for the digital development of the enterprise.

The details of the state support system for entrepreneurship were revealed by Maxim Reshetnikov, Minister of Economic Development of Russia. In his speech he said that it was close interaction and trusting relations between the government and business that allowed to maintain a stable development of the Russian economy in recent years, protecting it from the impact of both the pandemic and the sanctions attack that followed it.

"Through industry associations and regional teams of deputies, entrepreneurs initiated proposals for support measures, gave feedback based on which we fine-tuned our tools. COVID-19 helped us make a qualitative and systemic breakthrough in reducing administrative barriers - we revised mandatory requirements, reduced the number of inspections. Within the framework of the business climate transformation mechanism, almost 300 decisions were made in the areas of intellectual property, exports, industrial construction, corporate governance and tourism," Maxim Reshetnikov said.

In the previous two "sanction" years, the key task was to reorient export and import flows, to ensure the stability of payments and settlements. To help business, the government removed barriers for exports and supported the recovery of imports necessary for the realization of investment projects. As a result, it was possible to successfully replace trade turnover with the European Union with the growth of trade with friendly countries, to double the share of the ruble in foreign trade settlements.

"To further encourage such cooperation with friendly countries, to help businesses reduce transportation costs, we will continue to develop transport and logistics corridors and "expand" bottlenecks. The reconstruction of the Yarag-Kazmalyar checkpoint on the border with Azerbaijan alone has already increased the capacity of the border crossing almost five times. Modernization of the Verkhny Lars checkpoint has doubled the carrying capacity with Georgia. With China it has increased by a quarter. Thanks to these projects, business was able to increase shipments last year, including through the North-South corridor by one and a half times," the Minister of Economic Development said. 

Representatives of Russian business made their speeches. For instance, Sergei Gridnev, CEO of Grikom LLC, one of the major producers of domestic cosmetics, spoke about the successful experience of import substitution, and Anna Zlotko, a clothing designer, focused on the expansion of social entrepreneurship opportunities.

The international business community was represented at the meeting, among others, by Emmanuel Kide, Honorary President of the Franco-Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry. He reminded that despite external pressure, 80% of foreign companies operating in Russia refused to leave the country. The reasons for this are, first of all, the dynamic growth of the Russian economy, which is ahead of the world rates. And, secondly, serious investments in human capital, which foreign partners are very reluctant to lose.