As for many 2009 was  a busy year, but for us,  following our  anniversary celebration with Vladimir Pozner, we found it a tremendous  launching point for the future. Twenty years is an accomplishment, one that we are very proud of, and we received so many wonderful comments from people around the world congratulating us. But no one person or organization can rest on its laurels, so with the start of 2010 we are exploring  new ideas, projects and issues that can assist in advancing our bilateral relationship. I will be writing more about these in other posts.

One new aspect for FRAEC is that we are upping our visibility through a live journal blog in Russian and English, a YouTube Channel- FRAEC1, that we will  add more videos, and we are now on Facebook, so check out all of these and let us know what you think.

Russian Foreign Deputy Minister Ryabkov and Deputy Ex-Plenipotentiary Representative Levintal

“Spark and exploit” new opportunities was one of the messages at the 14^th Annual Meeting of the Russian American Pacific Partnership (RAPP) held on Sakhalin Island this week. U.S. and Russian federal leaders listened to the issues in our trans-pacific relationship. Just less than one month away from the first meeting of the Presidential Bilateral Commission Co-chairs, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, RAPP participants seized the opportunity to give their recommendations and perspectives.

At the opening plenary, Sakhalin Governor Alexander Khoroshavin captured the mood of the past 15 years by stating that in the ‘90’s we were optimistic then disillusioned and now the meeting’s theme, “ A Meeting of Shared Interests”, captures the new possibilities we face. Russian Foreign Deputy Minister Sergey Ryabkov, fresh from the G-20 and United Nations meetings, cited the uniqueness of the Russian Far East (RFE) region and RAPP. Interregional cooperation, according to Ryabkov, is becoming more important in Russia’s strategy. Improving small and medium-sized business and alternative energy cooperation is a priority that he asked RAPP to address. Alexander Levintal, Deputy Ex-plenipotentiary Representative of the President of Russia in the Far Eastern Federal District, highlighted the importance of developing the “intellectual economy” in the RFE and that RAPP is a “permanent player” in the region. Matthias Mitman, Economic Minister Counselor at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow, echoed the call for building prosperity through the intellectual economy and stated that the Pacific Basin is acknowledged as the “most dynamic region in the world”.

In a discussion on the priorities of the new Presidential commission, the federal representatives responded to questions from the participants. When asked as to how this new commission is different from the previous Gore-Chernomyrdin Commission, the response was: “more proactive and results driven” and “less bureaucratic”. The Business Development and Economic Relations Working Group, co-chaired by Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke and Minister of Economic Development Elvira Nabiullina, has on its current agenda 10 items including a placeholder for the recommendations from this RAPP meeting.

In the afternoon 19 presentations were delivered by key U.S. and Russian leaders on Oil and Gas, Technologies, Russian Priority Development projects, Community Development and Transportation providing the basis for discussion in the breakout sessions the next day. Over 25 recommendations emerged from the breakout sessions focused on Expanding Trans-Pacific Bilateral Trade, Opportunities through Applied Technologies and Community Development and Public-Private Cooperation. The report with these recommendations will be forwarded to the Bilateral Commission and will be made available to the public soon.

This was a special time for this meeting. Not just because of the newly formed Presidential Bilateral Forum, which gave new energy and excitement to the work of those attending RAPP, but also because the closing day was on September 29^th. Just 15 years ago on that day, President Boris Yeltsin announced in Seattle that he wanted to “create a new relationship” between the US West Coast and the Russian Far East. No one then understood how important that proclamation would be for our trans-pacific relationship. We have come a long way since then and there is more to come.

The first story highlights a recent U.N. study, “National Human Development Report, Russian Federation, 2008: Russia Facing Demographic Challenges”. This report asserts that Russia’s “demographic challenges – including short life expectancy and a shrinking population – must be faced to maintain Russia’s economic and social security.” It lists a number of very important policies and actions that the government and the Russian people must address to stem this serious problem ranging from improved healthy lifestyles, adopting life long education, addressing the pension system, employing youth and aging populations and international migration.

The other story comes on the heels of the celebration of International Children’s Day in Russia on June 1st. People took to the streets across Russia to attract attention to the problems that children face in Russia. There are videos on You Tube of some of the celebrations, but the article focuses on two aspects: the efforts by the Government of Russia to draw attention to the importance of having more children (something the U.N. report addresses) and how one television channel used the opportunity to highlight a charity event sponsored by the channel and airing footage of the President giving awards to spouses raising families with up to 16 children. The author of the article was very critical of the station, basically saying that it was “airing propaganda” and questioned whether promoting a positive image of Russian children would help combat the children’s problems in the country.

So how do I see these as related? It is clear from the U.N. report with its “Address to Readers” by E. Nabiullina, Minister for Economic Development of the Russian Federation, that the Government of Russia considers the falling population as “one of the most acute problems facing Russia”. Encouraging births is one part of the strategy – hence the recognition of families having more babies, but there is much more that needs to be done. It requires that the government and the Russian people recognize the importance of designing and implementing a strategy, as the U.N. report suggests, that harnesses three components: political will, economic resources and appropriate knowledge. And I would add that it means utilizing the many resources available in local communities to assist in improving healthy lifestyles, educating youth and the elder population as well as increasing the awareness and support of people and companies to the importance of charitable giving. Perhaps the television station erred in the direction of being overly positive, however, raising awareness of how everyone can help by supporting charities is important.

In his remarks he outlines ten principle budget tasks ranging from fulfilling the country’s social spending commitments and making them more targeted (an item he believes the regional authorities should have greater influence) to finding optimum means to support the country’s manufacturing and industrial sectors and finance system, as well as encouraging entrepreneurial activity,  promote research and development through tax incentives and an economically justified tax burden. Throughout his list there were calls for modernization and the use of technology to streamline government.

His final priority was of interst – the need to “start working on putting in place a barrier-free environment for people with disabilities and to ratify the International Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities“. This has been long overdue so I applaud the President for calling this to the attention of the country.

Two years ago during our bilateral Russian American Pacific Partnership (RAPP) meeting, I met a woman who was an advocate for people with disabilities. She herself was disabled and specifically came to our meeting to present her case at RAPP’s transportation sector. She called for prioritizing the needs of people with disabilities and was so convincing that the transportation sector included a recommendation to the Russian government in its sector report. “Access for the physically impaired: Access for people with disabilities living in Russia is extremely difficult. There are few, if any accommodations to allow them to travel with or without assistance. Providing access to travel through airports, on aircraft, on motor coaches, and on trains is critical. All people need to travel in order to get education, medical treatment and develop their personal potential outside their homes. It is imperative that transportation and infrastructure upgrades and developments address accessibility for all people, both able bodied and those with physical limitations.”

Clearly she must be celebrating this budget priority, along with the many other Russian citizens with disabilities that deserve a barrier-free environment.