10 april 2013

Dmitry Medvedev takes part in the international conference, Dialogue on the Future

Dmitry Medvedev’s address:

I’d like to welcome all participants in this session on partnership as a means to foster innovation.

Innovations never emerge by themselves. They are not created in offices or produced by the work of banks, though money is needed. They are the result of the dedicated efforts of many different participants in the process. I’m very glad that we have now adopted a policy of transforming our economy through innovation. We have not been successful in everything, far from it. But I’m absolutely sure that we don’t have other option. That’s my first point.

Second, we have started allocating considerable funding to this end. I looked at some figures – this year large companies alone have directed about 550 billion roubles for programmes on innovative transformation and re-equipment. This is about $20 billion. Maybe these figures are not extravagant, but they are fairly substantial.

I consider it very important that we have involved government agencies in the drive for innovation, and they have been quite active. Again, they are not successful in everything they are doing, but their achievements are noticeable. I’m referring to venture companies and the Rusnano Corporation. Our meeting today is a good sign. I’d like to wish you all good results and spring cheer. Spring has finally made it to Moscow and we hope to have good weather and substantial results at the conference.

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Dmitry Medvedev’s responses to questions at the news conference

Question (via interpreter): Prime Minister, we've heard a lot of exciting things over the past 24 hours about the whole innovation system – research, infrastructure, investment – but also about markets, and businesses and people and the climate of innovation. Can you tell me a little bit from your perspective about what you think are the most recent significant changes that you've made, but also looking to the future, what's your commitment now?

Dmitry Medvedev: I have already described, in a few words, my vision of our current life. The main thing is that the Russian state and our Government have now turned to face this aspect of economic development. This is where we place our stake now, regardless of the enormous energy resources that we have, and of our largely resource-based economy. In order to set the right vector, state institutions themselves must become perceptive of the innovative climate and, as Mr Löscher (Peter Löscher, CEO of Siemens AG) has rightly said, it is mainly a matter of Government decisions and partnership. The Government is making decisions: quite recently, on 29 March as far as I remember, I signed a special state programme on innovation development. This action plan, covering the period until 2020, concerns a number of projects and provides for their appropriate funding.

We certainly do not live in a centrally planned economy anymore. We have a different economic system now, but we still need to create plans, despite all the crises and international financial troubles, and the notorious European economic problems. For that purpose, we have the appropriate tools – state programmes – and a whole set of development institutions, which I mentioned earlier, both those that were previously created and brand new. New growth points are emerging, such as Skolkovo, our current venue, and these are of more than practical significance – which is the main thing, of course – but they are also of symbolic significance, for we are in need of symbols for our new economy and our new approaches. Finally, we have all of you, all those who help us, those who are interested in the development of their businesses and in the promotion of their projects. Without any of this, we shall not get anywhere. Therefore, partnership is probably our most valuable asset today.

I have always said that our country cannot follow this path in isolation. No innovative economic climate can be created behind an iron curtain or some sort of a wall. Obviously, this cannot be within a single country or even a close group of countries. A requirement for success is a perfectly transparent environment. In fact, that is how it works everywhere in the world, and our country is no exception. We need not look for a special way of our own: the road has long since been paved.

Question (via interpreter): We've been talking here about energy and transportation, and we wanted to set priorities in these particular areas. What in your opinion are Russian priorities in these sectors? Is there a concrete path that you want to take?

Dmitry Medvedev: Those are indeed our two priorities. For Russia, energy is more than everything. It is the source of our wealth and, at the same time, of our problems. I would like to remind you that we have enormous resources and, at the same time, one of the most energy intensive economies in the world. It is true that our huge territory with its severe climate, not to mention permafrost in some areas, requires a lot of heating. However, this is a poor excuse for the excessive energy consumption by virtually all of our housing and public utilities.

One of the executive orders that I signed during my presidency – in 2008, I believe – provides for a 40% reduction, by 2020, of the average energy consumption across our economy. This task remains valid and vitally important, and we are doing our best to fulfil it. In these efforts, by the way, we are assisted by our partners, including partners of such stature as Siemens.

As far as transport is concerned, the Minster’s presence here is further proof of the importance we attach to this aspect of our country’s development. We have set extremely ambitious tasks for the development of our transport system, including our motorway network, our railways – programmed as far into the future as 2030 – and, of course, air transport. All this will require substantial funding, but we shall have to provide it if we want our country to develop as a modern state.

I can give you an example, probably unknown by some of our foreign guests. In the Soviet Union, local short-distance flights were very frequent and popular, and we built many small planes for the purpose. All this has petered out. Now, instead of taking local flights between Siberian cities, our Siberian colleagues have to fly via Moscow. It is sheer madness, but that is the case. We therefore need – and relevant decisions have already been taken – to invest into regional air transport development, into the construction of our own small planes and, until we deal with the existing problems in this area, into the purchase of such planes from abroad, and certainly into the restoration of airports to normal working conditions, as some of them are decrepit. This is just one of the problems, but it is a matter of concern for a huge number of people who live in Siberia and in the Far East.

Railways. This is the area of our partnership with Siemens, and a really promising one. In this respect, Russia is a unique country. We shall certainly fulfil this vast and long-lasting programme. And modernisation is not restricted to the Olympic project. We often link certain things to some important events like the Olympic Games, or a world championship, or some forums. This is wrong. The Olympics will come and go, and the railways will remain, rendered unique by the technological level resulting from our partnership. And so it must be in many other places. Thus, I regard these two areas – energy efficiency and transport – as the key directions of our country’s innovative development.

Question: This year marks the 160th anniversary of Siemens AG’s presence in Russia. Mr Medvedev, how do you assess Siemens’s past activities and the prospects of further cooperation with this company?

Dmitry Medvedev: All will be well for at least another 160 years. Longer than that, I cannot be sure. But I can say that we owe our presence here, on this well-lit stage, to Siemens, who has installed a good deal of this building’s electrical equipment. Siemens is omnipresent. On board the helicopter that took me here, I looked up some figures: if I remember right, last year, the volume of our orders placed with Siemens was about 80 billion roubles – that is nearly 3 billion dollars. So you should not worry about your future, or about our future relations with Siemens. I wish our long-standing partnership may last for as long as possible, untroubled by any political crises in Europe or elsewhere.

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