Graham Allison: U.S. scanty investment in Russia is anomaly

Russia's Ministry for Economic Development and Trade notes that the symposium is the most important forum dealing with investment in Russia. The organizers of the RIS-2001 are Harvard University and the Dow Jones company, which publishes the Wall Street Journal. The Institute of Direct Investment is the official Russian representative at the symposium.

The more than 500 high-ranking officials and Russian, American and other company executives who are expected to attend the upcoming symposium will discuss the economic situation in Russia, its investment prospects and the possible scope of major investment projects.

It is a pressing problem: U.S. investment in Russia is twice as low as in Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary and ten times as low as in China. This was announced by Graham Allison, Director of the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, at a presentation ceremony for the upcoming Russian investment symposium.

In his opinion, now is the best time for investment in Russia. The Russian government, he said, expects to implement major reforms and achieve economic stabilization in the country. He sees the fact that the United States invests much less in Russia than in other countries as anomaly.

The Harvard symposium should help create conditions for growing investment in Russia by the United States and other developed countries. The presentation ceremony was addressed by Minister for Economic Development and Trade German Gref, who is head of the Russian organizing committee of the symposium.

He said in the past year a program of structural economic reforms in Russia has reversed the situation for the better and to a far greater extent than in previous ten years. All objective macro-economic indices paint an objective picture of an improvement in the situation in the country and, as a result, a better investment climate. However, he noted, today's favorable situation stems from the work of those who paved the way for it in previous years.

Gref maintains that an investment symposium of such scope is necessary to demonstrate all relevant figures and facts to potential investors and draw up a plan of action.

The Minister called on Russian entrepreneurs to attend the 5th Russian investment symposium due to take place in Boston on November 1-2, 2001. He expressed the hope that the symposium will result in the conclusion of a far bigger number of investment contracts than has been the case before.

A statement circulated before the presentation ceremony said that this year has seen several milestones in the development of the Russian economy. In 2001 Russia marks the 10th anniversary of its progress toward reform, and President Putin marks one year in office, a year marked by key economic developments and good progress in preparations for Russia's ascension to the World Trade Organization.