Russia's Input at APEC's Session 2

Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Pankin

A lower-ranking delegation from Russia is attending the APEC meeting at Lima, Peru, giving the upper echelon the time required to prepare for next week’s G-20 in Rio. That doesn’t mean the level of remarks are diminished since the entire Foreign Ministry team is outstanding, reflecting their excellent education and levels of research. Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Pankin delivers Russia’s remarks at the APEC Joint Meeting of Foreign Affairs and Trade Ministers. Session 2: Sustainable Growth for Sustainable Development. This topic is one that the West has failed at for decades, making grandiose promises of aid but never delivering—Lucy holding the football for Charlie Brown to kick then yanking it away is the analogy. As you see, Mr. Pankin is no Spring Chicken. Fridays are often a slow news day, but with Lavrov in the UAE meeting with many regional foreign ministers, another short report will follow this one.

Dear Chairs, Colleagues,

The APEC region strengthens its position as a growth engine with a positive GDP of 3.5 percent. At the same time, forecasts for the future are not very optimistic. The growing rampant illegitimate restrictions under various pretexts, from imaginary security threats to pseudo-concern for the climate, have an effect.

Such trends reflect the difficult realities of the formation of a multipolar world order, which is not to everyone's liking. The Global South and East have embarked on the path of true self-reliance, where the progress of some cannot be achieved at the expense of others. A number of well-known economies in the Asia-Pacific region, accustomed to dominating, continue neocolonial practices, and still live in the old paradigm in terms of the balance of power and "raw material appendages."

The BRICS summit in Kazan demonstrated the desire of the world majority to establish a fair world order, reform global institutions and build equal economic ties. A solid package of agreements has been signed in the areas of trade, investment, artificial intelligence, energy and climate, and logistics. The partner of the association was the APEC member country Indonesia.

The share of Asia-Pacific economies in Russia's foreign trade has already reached 70%. Almost 90% of settlements are made in national currencies. Energy security is one of the pillars of modern development. We ensure uninterrupted supplies of energy resources to the APEC region. We are convinced that transitions to low-carbon sources should be fair, take into account domestic priorities and technological capabilities. Concern for nature and the climate cannot be turned into an instrument of unfair competition.

Russia attaches great importance to the problem of climate change. In the spirit of the seventh SDG [Sustainable Development Goal], our energy balance is based on such environmentally friendly resources as natural gas, nuclear and hydropower, and hydrogen. We have approved a taxonomy in the field of sustainable development, and there is a register of carbon units.

Domestic business is actively involved in the implementation of this agenda. The ESG [Environmental, Social, and Governance] register of Russian companies is published, and the National ESG Alliance is created.

Dear Chairmen,

The problem of food security is acute in the world. 733 million people are starving. However, this shocking fact is not caused by a shortage of agricultural products. The "bottleneck" is the unavailability of agricultural products as a result of artificial obstacles in supply logistics provoked by the West and abuse of cross-border payment mechanisms. For our part, we remain a responsible and conscientious supplier. In the Asia-Pacific region alone, Russian agricultural exports in 2023 increased by 17%, exceeding $22 billion.

In this context, the creation of a grain exchange within the framework of BRICS, which is designed to form fair and predictable prices and protect the markets of participants, can be a positive factor. According to experts, this mechanism will consolidate up to 44% (1.24 billion tons per year) of the world supply of grain crops on one trading platform.

We support the Principles for Minimizing Food Loss and Waste. We are stepping up efforts to increase the sustainability of aquatic biological resources. Russia has initiated an APEC virtual group to discuss the implementation of the Agreement on Port State Measures to Combat Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing. We are actively working on this track with interested economies. We look forward to productive discussions during the ministerial meeting of the Maritime Cooperation Forum in Busan [RoK] in April-May 2025.

Regional dynamics will largely depend on the pace of digitalization and the development of modern infrastructure.

We are working intensively to strengthen technological sovereignty and create digital platforms in all sectors of the national economy based on domestic software by 2030. The Russian IT industry is growing by an average of 10% per year. Our companies are among the leaders in the advanced sectors of ICT [Information and Communications Technology] security, AI, e-commerce, search engines, big data, and manned cars. Moscow is in the first positions in the UN ranking for the digitalization of services.

We are building up transit potential through the Trans-Siberian and Baikal-Amur railways, the North-South, West-East transport corridors, and the Northern Sea Route. We continue to move towards the Greater Eurasian Partnership, a broad integration contour with the participation of all Eurasian economies.

Russia is in favor of depoliticized cooperation within APEC. We are playing a stabilizing role in global energy and fertilizer markets – unlike those who are pumping hundreds of billions of US dollars into military support for the Nazi regime in Kiev and warmongering, rather than directing those funds to developing countries in dire need.

In conclusion, we thank the Peruvian Chairmanship for its significant contribution to the development of the forum. We are ready to continue constructive cooperation with the Republic of Korea as the chair of APEC 2025, progressively moving towards the comprehensive implementation of the APEC Putrajaya Guidelines until 2040.

Thank you for your attention. [My Emphasis]

Of all the points listed, IMO the most important is food security for all those millions who lack it. The #1 goal of the UN’s 2030 Development Program is the elimination of hunger, otherwise known as the food problem. Once upon a time, the Russian Empire was a basket case when it came to food production and continually suffered from famine due to both weather and policy. The most remarkable achievement IMO in Russia’s resurrection is its ability to not only feed itself very well, no longer having to reply on imports, but becoming the world’s #1 grain exporter accounting for just under 20% of all grain exports. During Putin’s frequent trips to Russia’s agricultural regions, we read of great confidence from Russian farmers that they can solve the food problem since there’re vast acreages of arable land that have yet to be put into production. What’s lacking is a rural population dedicated to farming as the technologies and most infrastructure are available. The logistical and political roadblocks have always existed as generally enough food is produced annually to feed the world, the #1 issue being equitable distribution and food wastage, which is massive in the West. Establishing a new Grain Exchange that eventually includes other commodities will go a long way to solving the logistics and equitability issues. Eliminating the pricing of foodstuffs in dollars will be a boon to the starving. Attaining stability within their nations will be another since that’s the #1 cause of starvation—the inability to grow crops while warfare is happening.

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