The head of the Ministry for the Development of the Russian Far East suggested that Russia should "follow the path of Sun Tzu's canons"
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Alexey Chekunkov believes that against the background of Western sanctions Russia should follow the eastern path - according to the canons of the ancient Chinese thinker Sun Tzu. The battle for technology cannot be won head-on by taking "all that is missing" from China.
Russia, which after the start of the special operation in Ukraine and the imposition of Western sanctions has found itself "at the epicentre of the world's rift", needs to go the eastern path - according to the canons of the general and philosopher, the author of the treatise on military strategy "The Art of War" Sun Tzu, who lived in Ancient China. Alexei Chekunkov, head of the Ministry for the Development of the Russian Far East, spoke in an article for RBC.
This path will not be straight and fast, but long and consistent, but successful, the minister points out: "A battle of such magnitude as the battle for technology cannot be won head-on - take everything we lack from China, or invent a quantum computer faster than others. This is a multi-generational campaign, where each previous one hands over the right pass to the next." Russia has everything to overcome difficulties and reach a high rate of economic growth, keep pace with technological development and take its rightful place in a complex, changing world. "The pivot to the East must come not just through a change of partners but through a paradigm shift," he adds.
The first victory in the "campaign" is rapid economic growth. A realistic scenario for achieving such growth is to significantly increase the volume of investments, and for this, if necessary, the amount of debt in the economy, Chekunkov notes. "The good news is that we can still afford it in the next ten years. Russia's macroeconomic indicators are reliable. The conjuncture of foreign markets is favourable," he adds. Although the country is home to 1.8% of the world's population, it produces 17% of the world's gas, 12% of oil, 11% of nickel, 9% of gold, 30% of diamonds and 11% of wheat.
According to Chekunkov, accelerated development of the resource base of the Far East and the Arctic and the creation of new transport corridors, primarily the Northern Sea Route, to export these resources would boost the Russian economy. Massive investment in housing and infrastructure construction and urban renovation, in addition to providing an economic stimulus, will improve people's quality of life. The third and main vector for victory in technological development is investment in education, the minister concludes. He believes that the money earned from the unprecedentedly high prices for natural resources can only be correctly invested in one way - by laying the foundation for decades to prepare the "people of the future." To do this, the best teachers of the country will be attracted to the Far East on a rotational basis and joint programs will be launched with leading federal universities, as well as serious resources will be invested in the development of management teams.