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[CNN]
Medvedev: Russia is open for business
By Irene Chapple. John Defterios and Laura Smith-Spark, CNN
January 23, 2013 -- Updated 1704 GMT (0104 HKT)
CNN.com
The Russian PM says a global recession is "possible" but it is not the outside
risks that pose the biggest threat to Russia.
Davos, Switzerland (CNN) -- Dmitry Medvedev made a strong pitch for foreign
investment in Russia Wednesday as he gave his first special address as Russia's
prime minister at the World Economic Forum in Davos.
He painted a picture of a strong economy that is open to those who are "ready
to be partners" and invest in Russia.
Follow the action live on CNN.com
This year Davos, a picturesque Swiss ski resort, is hosting nearly 40 world
leaders and more than 2,000 executives. The world's top policymakers gather
annually to discuss global issues, and are this time meeting under the banner
of "resilient dynamism."
Medvedev sought to position himself as a reformer in a country that is moving
determinedly forward.
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"Russia is an open country, whatever they might think or say," he said,
referring to critics of its record on corruption and governance issues.
Russia's unemployment rate, at a little over 5%, is the lowest among developed
countries, he said, and it also has an extremely low level of foreign debt.
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"We need to see investment growing by 10% annually," he said. "Therefore we are
interested in attracting large-scale foreign investment." That amount of
investment expansion is needed to push Russia's economy beyond 4% growth, he
said.
But Medvedev acknowledged that Russia needs to do a much better job of
attracting foreign direct investment.
Russia ranks very low in global corruption indices, which has held back
investment despite a sizable population of 142 million.
Medvedev said his government's priority is to improve public governance.
But, he said, this is not a problem unique to Russia.
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"It's nothing new --- humanity has been facing these problems for centuries, if
not millennia," he said. "The more law and order, the more thieves and robbers.
In that sense, little has changed."
Medvedev stressed that Russia is an open market now and pointed to membership
in the World Trade Organization as a indication of that. The country's next
priority is to gain membership of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation
and Development, composed of the world's industrialized nations, he said.
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The prime minister suggested this sends a strong message to the world, even
though both structures "are not perfect," in his view.
He also spoke of the need to create an equal playing field for all businesses
and to create a "single economic space" with Russia's neighbors, stretching
from the Atlantic to the Pacific.
But the prime minister dismissed suggestions that this is an effort to somehow
recreate the Soviet Union, saying Russia wants to play in the global market.
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"There is no going back to the past," he said.
Executives have not been convinced in the past that Medvedev and Russian
President Vladimir Putin are on the same page.
But the prime minister stressed that Russia has a global outlook and will
continue dialogue with its European friends and partners.
"We are building our cooperation," he said, acknowledging that unilateral
action could have "dire implications."
Medvedev said the G-20, which brings together the world's major economies, is
becoming increasingly efficient and that this has helped limit the extent of
the global economic crisis.
"We need to use modern technologies, crowd sourcing," he said. "Those
technologies change the status and enhance the legitimacy of decisions made in
government."
Davos 2013: New year, same old problems?
The speech echoed one Medvedev gave at Davos as his country's president in
2011, when he also pushed foreign investment in Russia while acknowledging that
reforms were needed.
Russia last month assumed the rotating presidency of the G-20.
"The Russian presidency's main task will be to focus the G-20's efforts on
developing measures to stimulate economic growth and create jobs," Putin said
at the time.
Few are likely to dispute Medvedev's comments on the need for Russia to
prioritize governance issues.
Russia ranked 133 out of 174 in Transparency International's 2012 Corruption
Perceptions Index.
Ahead of the World Economic Forum, the non-governmental group's chairwoman,
Huguette Labelle, called on countries and businesses to change the way they
work, for everybody's sake.
"Future prosperity will always be undermined by corruption, excessive
risk-taking, a lack of transparency and other unethical practices," she warned.
Pavel Khodorkovsky, the son of jailed Russian oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky
and president of the U.S.-based Institute of Modern Russia, also wrote an open
letter to those at the World Economic Forum in which he highlighted the plight
of his father.
Mikhail Khodorkovsky, who backed an opposition party, has been in jail since
2003 and was convicted in 2005 on charges of tax evasion and fraud. Russia has
faced wide criticism over his treatment, with the United States and others
accusing it of "selective prosecution" and abuse of the legal system.
His son, in his letter to policymakers at Davos, called on them to raise the
issue of the former Yukos chief executive's continued imprisonment and urge
support for the rule of law in Russia.
"Ending corruption is not just a human rights issue," Pavel Khodorkovsky said.
"The proliferation of corruption remains a huge impediment to direct foreign
investment.
"Both U.S. and Russian officials have publicly acknowledged Russia's weak
property rights and rampant corruption are reasons to avoid doing business in
Russia. This is thwarting job creation and starving Russian businesses of the
capital they need to grow."
Medvedev's comments come amid frosty relations with the United States after
Putin signed a law in December prohibiting Americans from adopting Russian
children.
The move by Russian politicians was widely seen as retaliation for a law that
U.S. President Barack Obama signed December 14. That bill, called the Magnitsky
Act, imposes U.S. travel and financial restrictions on those it considers human
rights abusers in Russia.
© 2013 Cable News Network. Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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