 | | Opening Plenary Chaired by Minister of Regional Development Kozak and Country Director Rohland |
This multi-sector, multi-region workshop was held, on March 31, 2008 in Moscow with over 100 participants from federal government agencies, think tanks, and a number of Russia's regions and Bank specialists from all sectors. By all accounts, the workshop was an important milestone in the development of the Bank's cooperation with Russia's regions and the policy dialogue on regional development strategies. It was also well covered by the leading media. Feedback received from the Russian stakeholders indicate strong interest and scope for expanded dialogue and collaboration on regional development policy issues. The objectives of the seminar were to: (1) Review selectively international perspectives on spatial/regional development emphasizing successful cases, institutions and policies for regional development, and (2) Share experiences and issues on Russia's regional development and identify Russian client demand at sub-national level on regional development strategies.  | Minister Kozak and Country Director Rohland |
Regional development is a key policy issue that crosses a number of developmental problems facing the country: fiscal risks and intergovernmental fiscal relations, infrastructure needs, regional and internal trade integration, policies towards leading and lagging regions, social policy, regional investment climate, and environment. In February 2008, the Bank held an upstream WDR 2009 roundtable to discuss emerging findings with leading Russian economists. A vibrant discussion indicated broad and keen interest among broad groups of stakeholders. Prior discussions with regional governments also indicated strong interest. Regional Development Strategies workshop was envisaged as an analytical type of activity to review good international practice and share experiences on Russian regional development issues, and Bank's work in support of regional growth and diversification in Russia's regions. Minister of Regional Development Dmitri Kozak and Country Director Klaus Rohland welcomed the audience and the Bank's ECA Chief Economist Pradip Mitra and ECA PREM Director Luca Barbone took the lead in the discussions during the planery session of the workshop. The international panel on OECD, Brazil and China also drew much attention and discussion. Representatives of Russian regions, including Krasnodar, Tver, Rostov, Khanti-Mantsisk, with other regions (including Dagestan) participated in a vibrant discussion of regional issues organized around two key themes: (i) investments, entrepreneurship and growth, and (ii) the role of the state in Russia's regions. Representatives of Krasnodar, Tver, Tomsk, and Khanti-Mantsisk gave compelling presentation of their regions' development issues and approaches and interacted with the Bank specialists in formal and informal parts of the workshop.  | Zeljko Bogetic, Lead Economist for Russia |
There was considerable consensus about some key elements of regional development strategies in a spatially diverse and vast country such as Russia. But there was also sense that each region is different and that appropriate mix of policies will inevitably differ across regions, implying the need for careful regional diagnostics. The following principal conclusions stand out. The early findings of the World Development Report that are based on international experience are relevant for Russia, but their application must take into account regional economic and geographic specificities. A key message emerging in the World Development Report is that effective regional development strategies are likely to rely on supporting existing economic agglomerations while promoting greater equity of social outcomes across space and greater connectivity across regions. Approaches to regional policies relying on market forces and exploiting geographic advantages stand a greater chance of success as opposed to policies forcing production into areas of insufficient demand (e.g., USSR, China before reforms). Greater freedom of mobility of factors of production (labor, capital) across space is likely to be an important element of successful strategies. Yet Russia is different, being the world's spatially largest and, in some ways, most diverse country. Hence its crucial specificities must be taken into account: low density (demographic and economic), vast distances, and regional barriers to market access (including the special problem of isolated regions). What this means is that one-size-fit-all regional development policy is unlikely to be successful in Russia. Careful diagnostics of regional development constraints and specificities are likely to be needed in formulating and implementing effective regional development strategies.  | | Senator Tasso Jereissati, Brazil |
The Russian regions case studies reported special problems of both resource-rich (Tomsk, Khanti-Mantsisk) and less well endowed regions. There is a sense that there is much that can be done to foster greater connectivity across neighboring regions, even at a basic level: information, exchanges, trade and transport and logistics links. Russia remains a fairly centralized state, even in spatial terms, where it is often easier to travel to Moscow than to neighboring regions, implying considerable payoff from spatial integration of adjacent regions. Moreover, even in the European part of the country that has comparatively better infrastructure, vast parts of the country have substandard transport and logistics links, hindering internal trade and development. Investment climate also needs improvement, especially in those areas under the control of the regional and local authorities. Investment climate case studies from Tver and Rostov suggest that skills shortage, inter alia, is a broader issue at the regional level, with important implications for migration policy. Strengthening regional public administration, effective role of the state, monitoring and performance framework were also viewed as key to successful regional program implementation. Some regions have gone farther than others in this area. There was a lot of inter-regional discussion among regional representatives on these issues during the workshop. Russia has fairly good economic prospects for the medium term, and this is a solid platform to begin addressing key regional development issues: these are difficult challenges, but not insurmountable.  | | The Workshop Audience Included All Stakeholders of Regional Development |
Success requires avoiding major mistakes (e.g., forcing production in regions with a limited market access and a low economic density). Regional development strategies that run counter to market forces are unlikely to be successful. Finally, a broad message is worth reiterating: effective regional development strategies should broadly be guided by twin objectives: supporting existing growth centers and inter-regional connectivity and reducing social inequities across Russia, subject to fiscal constraints. Learn more here
|
RSS