“Development of the country is development of the regions”: the final meeting of the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation was held in Moscow

The annual meeting of the Ministry of Economic Development of Russia, devoted to the results of the activities of the department in 2018 and the tasks for 2019 with the participation of Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, was held at the Government House of Russia. From the Republic of Tatarstan the Minister of Economy of Tatarstan Farid Abdulganiyev took part in the meeting.

“A few years ago, the word “crisis” was a refrain, it was regularly heard in speeches by analysts, economists, financiers, and, of course, ministers. Today, this is practically not spoken about, these words have disappeared from current economic vocabulary”, the Head of Government noted, opening the final board.

Dmitry Medvedev noted that all prerequisites for economic growth have been created in Russia: “inflation is low and stable”, “unemployment is at a record low level”, a mechanism for “transforming the business climate” and a national project to support small and medium-sized businesses have been launched.

An important step, according to the Prime Minister, is also the launch of a special tax regime for self-employed in the pilot regions.

Dmitry Medvedev made a special emphasis on the export activity of small and medium-sized enterprises: “Five years ago their number did not exceed 10-15 thousand. At the end of last year, almost 50 thousand small and medium-sized entrepreneurs became exporters from this group of enterprises. This, of course, can not but rejoice”.

The Head of Government called integration into world trade an important area. Even “despite the sanctions and all sorts of restrictions” Russia will work more actively with its neighbors from the Eurasian Union.

The Minister of Economic Development of Russia, Maksim Oreshkin, in his speech noted the important role of work at the regional level. “Development of the country is the development of the regions. Development begins at the micro level, which then develops into the macro, and not the other way round. The second fact is that in order to solve even global tasks it is always important to thoroughly examine problems on the ground”, he stressed.

Decrees of the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin set targets for the regions to attract investment, create jobs, increase life expectancy, reduce poverty. “It is necessary not only to set tasks for the regions, but work out ways to achieve them together with them”, the Minister suggested.

Work with the regions will be crucial: the Ministry of Economic Development will continue this work both within the framework of the mechanism of the State Council and within the framework of individual work on development of each specific region.

Maksim Oreshkin said that “economic growth has continued for 12 consecutive quarters”. In 2018, it reached 2.8%. Short-term trends, he said, do not look positive so far, but this slowdown is not systemic and is caused by weakness in final demand with a simultaneous tightening of fiscal and monetary policies.