Principle theme

31 August 2010

Russian-Chinese Conference on the Activities of Special Economic Zones

The Centre for the development of Entrepreneurship of the Zelenograd administrative district of Moscow was the venue of the Russian-Chinese conference on the activities special economic zones (SEZs).

The event was organised by Russia’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Moscow Chamber of Commerce and Industry, China’s Committee for the development of international trade, Russia-China Friendship, Peace and Development Committee and the Centre for the development of entrepreneurship of the Zelenograd administrative district of Moscow.

Taking part in the conference were RF CCI vice president Gerogi Petrov, first deputy of the prefect of the Zelenograd administrative district of Moscow Aleksei Mikhalchenko, the head of the department of special economic zones of the RF Economic Development Ministry Yuri Trofimov, chairman of the board of the Association of SEZ residents Valentin Tsoi, the head of the Zelenograd affiliation of the JSC “SEZ” Dmitry Sirotkin, director of the Zelenograd branch of the Moscow CCI Aleksadnr Novikov, director of the Centre for the development of entrepreneurship of the Zelenograd administrative district of Moscow Mikhail Shcherbakov, Russian businessmen and journalists.

The Chinese participants at the conference included a delegation of China’s Committee for the Assistance to the Development of International Trade (CCADIT) led by Dun Sungen.

RF CCI vice president Georgi Petrov opened and chaired the conference.

Aleksei Mikhalchenkov addressed his word of welcome to the participants, presenting Zelenograd as one of the leading Russian R&D centres.

In his presentation Yuri Trofimov dwelt on the role of the state in the formation and development of SEZs in Russia. He stressed that 16 SEZs of four types are now operational in Russia. A short while ago the RF government decreed the establishment of another one in the city of Samara.

CCADIT deputy chairman Dun Sungen stressed in his presentation that over the 30 years of existence and development of Chinese SEZs, a weighty expertise has been accumulated and Chinese businessmen are ready to share their knowledge with Russian colleagues. He also spoke about Chinese SEZs and their scopes of activities and invited Russian businesses to further cooperation and investments in view of the fact that the Chinese government offers a wide range of preference packages. Russia is active in developing its SEZs, improving the administrative mechanisms and attracting foreign capital. Dun Sungen said he was confident that the CCADIT and the RF CCI would continue enhancing their cooperation between the two countries in this direction.  

The members of the Chinese delegation from Harbin, Shenjeng and  Baotung spoke about the specificity and investment attractiveness of their SEZs.

Valentin Tsoi was the next speaker. He stressed that the Association of SEZ residents maintained good business relations with their Chinese counterparts, especially in the trans-border regions of Siberia and the Far East. Russian businesses are prepared to present to the interested Chinese investors economic projects worth 15 billion euros.

The head of the Zelenograd affiliation of the JSC “SEZ” Dmitri Sirotkin made a presentation of its activities.

He said that at present 36 residents were registered in Zelenograd. The zone’s authorities are mostly interested in attracting major foreign investors and medium-sized specialised companies. A short while ago, he said, delegations from Japan, Finland and France paid visits to Zelenograd, and judging by their sincere interest in the directions the SEZ develops (nanotechnologies, microelectronics, bio-nanopharmaceutics, energy-saving technologies and IT and communication technologies), foreign investors are serious about their future moves.  All the more so that this SEZ develops within the territory with a strong scientific school, tremendous human resources, where science-intensive technologies are promoted.

Already today the main advantages of the Zelenograd SEZ include the direct support of the RF government, preferential rates of land lease and purchase, the absence of the tax company property tax, the land and transport tax holiday of 5 years, insurance premiums of only 14% (26% elsewhere in Russia), and a reduced 15.5% profit tax. Besides the infrastructure necessary for the activities of SEZ residents is being funded from the federal budget. Moreover, a new company can choose the point of connection to the engineering networks and no fees are due for the technological connection, concluded Dmitri Sirotkin.

At a briefing after the conference Georgi Petrov and Dun Sungen answered many journalists’ questions.

After that the Chinese delegation visited the headquarters of the construction Zelenograd’s technical-introductory platform of the “Alabushevo” type. The territory of 142 hectares is to become a venue of 4 main zones: a business zone, a recreational area, sites for residents and a communications area. Several elements of infrastructure are already completed, including communications, fencing, a segment of the driveway, etc. 3.750 billion roubles from the federal budget have already been invested in this construction site. Some of the residents are set to begin construction on their sites right off.

An auction will be held in the near future for the construction of the administration and business centre, a bridge across the Skhodnya. In autumn an auction will be arranged for the construction of customs infrastructure. According to plans all these facilities are to be completed by 2015 reaching the maximum efficiency within 10 to 15 years after that.

The members of the Chinese delegation were given exhaustive answers to their questions about the planned activities of this platform, preferences to its residents and the terms of implementation of their innovative projects. They received invitations to become active investors of the SEZ “Zelenograd.” As Dun Sungen said: “The majority of the Chinese delegation came to Zelenograd for the first time. I think that the Zelenograd SEZ will be of interest to our businessmen. I am confident,” he added, “that Russia, and Zelenograd in particular, will become one of the priority goals of Chinese investors.”

 Information ànd Public Relations Department

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