Alexey Sidorenko

Far Eastern Federal University e-mail: sidorenkoffalex@gmail.com

Present condition and perspectives of Russia in socio-economic sphere interacting inside SCO, APEC and with ASEAN

The major instruments of multilateral diplomacy in Asia-Pacific are regional organizations and the most influential for Russia are Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

APEC being the most popular organization due to Summit in 2012 held right here is also the biggest economic facilitator of Russian integration in Asian logistical and business sphere and trade liberalization. Moreover, during the summit several important agreements with China and Japan on the development of Russian Far East were signed [1].

However, Russia is not a member of ASEAN the cooperation is quite vast. ASEAN is similar to APEC opportunities in economic sphere but it is more interesting in socio-cultural interacting. It covers tourism, science and technology, human resources development and even disaster management [2].

The SCO is the most underestimated in my opinion regional tool for Russian development. It is actually more effective in Chinese expansion to Central Asian markets. Still Russian influence there is high and can be used for mutual benefit. In cultural sphere, the major event is children painting exposure, thus, I will not focus on this part regarding this organization.

Russian foreign policy during last 14 years (including joining the WTO) and recent events in Ukraine uncovered rising authority and power of our country in the international community. It can be used to put more efforts in cooperation with rapidly developing Asian states, which will lead to the development of Russia itself. It is also interesting to cooperate culturally because the region is full of ancient and rich cultures.

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