Ex oriente lux - The Light Comes from the East
L'ANTIDIPLOMATICO
From 3 to 6 September, Russia will host the next Eastern Economic Forum. This year the emphasis is on the development of new directions in the current global situation. The programme includes more than 100 business events divided into seven thematic blocks. Some of the most important blocks of the forum in the global context will be:
- "New Contours of International Cooperation". Here the focus will be on the new conditions of Russia's interaction with international partners. A special place will be taken by discussions of Russian-Chinese relations, prospects of interaction with India and ASEAN countries for expanding cooperation within the BRICS and SCO.
- "Transport and logistics: new routes". One of the key events here will be a meeting of the Council of Shipping Participants on the Northern Sea Route, where logistics opportunities of this strategically important artery will be discussed.
This will be the ninth Eastern Economic Forum, which is being held in Vladivostok, the terminus of the Trans-Siberian Railway. In nine years, Russia has made giant steps in the development of both its regions and the success of its geopolitical turn to the east. Last year more than 7 thousand people from 62 countries and territories took part in the forum. In addition to traditionally friendly countries, it was attended by Russia's outspoken enemies: the USA, Great Britain, Japan, Germany and France. On the margins of the Forum 373 agreements totalling RUB 3 trillion 818 billion were signed. This year, over 4,200 people from more than 40 countries and territories have confirmed their participation in the EEF.
The development of the Northern Sea Route is of undoubted interest to most of the participating countries. On the margins of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum held in June, Rosatom and the Chinese shipping company Hainan Yangpu NewNew Shipping signed an agreement to organise year-round navigation along the Northern Sea Route (NSR) and establish a joint venture to build high-ice-class container ships. NewNew Shipping is one of the first non-Russian operators to start regular voyages along the Northern Sea Route. Last year, the company acquired six Arctic-class vessels, on which it made its first eight voyages in the waters of the NSR. In 2024, it plans to make 12 voyages between Arkhangelsk and Chinese ports. Managing Director Ke Jin expressed confidence that in the next 10-20 years, the NSR will connect China, Japan, Korea, Southeast Asia and Europe.
The strategic importance of the NSR cannot be underestimated - it is an alternative to the southern route via the Suez Canal, which is considerably shorter. The route from Rotterdam (Netherlands) to Yokohama (Japan) via the Suez Canal is 11.2 thousand nautical miles, while the NSR is 7.4 thousand. Western sanctions and the turbulent situation in the Red Sea have significantly increased the attractiveness of the NSR as the shortest route between the harbours of Russia and China. Last year, a record 36 million tonnes of cargo was transported along this water route. The NSR has another important advantage - environmentally friendly transport. On average, transporting 1 billion tonnes of cargo on the Shanghai-Rotterdam route results in emissions of about 22.3 million tonnes of CO2. Using a shorter route via the Northern Sea Route could reduce emissions by 5.1 million tonnes, and if LNG is used as fuel for tankers, by a further 3.4 million tonnes. In the long term, using the nuclear fleet and hydrogen or ammonia as fuel would reduce emissions to zero.
India, which is the largest buyer of Russian oil shipped by sea, has also expressed interest in co-operating with Russia in Arctic shipping and related economic cooperation. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi made his first overseas bilateral visit to Moscow after the party's victory in the recent parliamentary elections. In Q1 2024, India-Russia trade turnover reached $17.49bn (+5% compared to the same period in 2023). In a joint statement signed by the leaders of Russia and India, the two sides adopted a common approach to building a new architecture of stable and efficient transport corridors, to the development of promising value chains in Eurasia, and expressed their readiness to work actively to increase logistics links with a focus on increasing the capacity of infrastructure, including the launch of the Vladivostok-Chennai sea corridor and the North-South international transport corridor, as well as the use of the Vladivostok-Chennai international transport corridor.
The NSR also plays a crucial role in the geopolitical struggle for the Arctic, and in the future, as climatic conditions change, it will become increasingly important for the development of raw material resources in the Arctic latitudes. It is not for nothing that the United States is updating its strategy for the Arctic, declaring its own interests in the region and expanding its presence there to a significant extent through its favourite US military activities: establishing military bases with the deployment of US fighter jets carrying nuclear weapons near Russia's borders (Norway, Finland), conducting exercises to practice the transfer of forces to eastern Europe, and launching missile strikes against Russia (Alaska, Baltic States). The attractiveness of the Arctic is obvious and the race for the region will only heat up. Only the approaches to the issue differ. "Ex oriente lux, ex occidente lex" - "From the east there is light, from the west there is law", says an ancient Latin saying. Now it might sound like "Ex oriente lux, ex occidente praecepta" - "From the east is light, from the west are the rules." Some are looking for mutually beneficial co-operation, others want to dictate the rules.
Thus, EEF-2024 promises to become a platform for discussing the most pressing issues. In his greeting to the guests, participants and organisers of the IX Eastern Economic Forum, President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin said: "Russia is open for dialogue with all interested partners in the Asia-Pacific region and is determined to actively cooperate in order to build a fairer and more democratic system of international relations based on genuine equality, free from dictate, force and sanctions pressure." He who has ears to hear, let him hear. But the connection between hearing apparatus of European politicians and their minds remains in question, since judging by their speeches and actions, the brain is a vestige in their organism.