Moscow - the 21st Consultative Commission (CC) Meeting of the Greater Tumen Initiative (GTI) was held successfully back-to-back with the NEA Policy Dialogue on Sustainable Finance on November 23, 2021 via video conference. GTI Member States (the Russian Federation, Mongolia, the People’s Republic of China, the Republic of Korea), as well as high-level representatives from line ministries, the local governments of Northeast Asia (NEA), financial institutions, research institutions and international organizations attended the meeting.
Opening remarks were delivered by Mr. Vladimir Ilyichev (Deputy Minister, Ministry of Economic Development, Russian Federation), Ms. Mungunchimeg Sanjaa (Deputy Minister of Finance, Mongolia), Mr. Wang Shouwen (Vice Minister of Commerce of People’s Republic of China and Deputy China International Trade Representative), and Mr. Yoon Tae-sik (Deputy Finance Minister for International Affairs, Republic of Korea) with a warm welcome.
Mr. Vladimir Ilyichev stated that Russia is actively engaged in and aims to further strengthen the cooperation with the GTI member countries, and was pleased that Russia’s economic and trade relations follow the path of a stable recovery. In particular, Russia’s trade turnover with China, Mongolia and the Republic of Korea in the first 9 months of 2021 exceeded 120 billion US dollars. The key priorities during Russian chairmanship include resilient and sustainable recovery and territorial development. In this context, the Northeast Policy Dialogue on Sustainable Finance was held to share knowledge and experience of GTI member countries on sustainable finance and to expedite the transition to more sustainable development in Northeast Asia. He also called for developing more concrete projects. Mr. Ilyichey stressed the importance of the operational activities in sectors and reiterated that Russia will be consistent in its’ effort as the chair in several GTI working bodies in 2022.
Ms. Mungunchimeg Sanjaa emphasized that the GTI is an important platform for expanding trade and deepening economic cooperation among the countries in the Northeast Asian region, and expected GTI to continue expanding cooperation in key sectors despite the outbreak of COVID-19. Estimating the large-scale vaccination will mitigate the pandemic situation, the Mongolian Parliament approved the budget of 2022, which is expected to have a 5% revenue increase as well as a 5% increase in economic growth with foreign trade flows and exports of crude products. As the chair for GTI in 2022, Mongolia called for intensified cooperation in all areas of regional development and seeking solid financial support for various projects and activities. Ms. Mungunchimeg wished great success to the Winter Olympics Games in China in 2022.
Mr. Wang Shouwen noted the positive progress in various fields of cooperation in the GTI member countries in the past year, which helped to strengthen regional trade links and foster economic recovery. Appealing to regional cooperation in fighting COVID-19 by enhancing coordination on information exchange, containment measures and border management, and by cooperating on vaccine R&D and production, he elaborated on China’s strategy guarding against imported cases and preventing domestic resurgences in pursuit of the “dynamic zero-case” target, and the concrete actions on encouraging vaccination. With regard to the economic recovery, the trade with Russia, ROK and Mongolia grew by 29.8%, 27% and 46.5% respectively in the first three quarters. He called on members to keep the economic recovery momentum, to promote the integration of industrial chains and improve the level of trade facilitation, and committed to continue hosting the NEA Policy Dialogue on Industrial Parks. He believed that enhancing regional trade arrangements and tapping digital economy vitality are essential to developing an integrated and open regional market. Promoting green and sustainable development is equally important. China has introduced a series of concrete and practical work guidance and action plans towards its ‘30-60 goal’, and is willing to share the experience in poverty alleviation and step up green economic cooperation with GTI members. China also stands ready to further synergize the Belt and Road Initiative with development strategies and cooperation initiatives in Northeast Asia, to jointly contribute to common development and prosperity and promote the building of a community with a shared future for mankind.
Mr. Yoon Tae-sik pointed out that this meeting is meaningful to discuss challenges and share ideas when the global supply chains (GVCs) have been significantly disrupted due to the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in supply bottlenecks for raw materials and key components. He acknowledged the concrete outcomes by the GTI on developing an economic cooperation framework among member states and integrating the regional economy in NEA over the past three decades and suggested the direction of the GTI development in three points, A) GTI’s transformation into an international organization; B) Encouragement of North Korea to re-join the GTI; C) Cooperation on reshaping the global supply chain in the post-pandemic era. Mr. Yoon appealed to join forces to make Northeast Asia a venue for regional cooperation for economic integration by creating a community of human and material resources. In response to the growing non-contact trends and low-carbon, green demands, the Korean government has committed to accelerating the transition to a digital and green new deal economy and promoting the human new deal, through Korean New Deal.
The GTI Member States then positively reviewed the overall progress in priority sectors and partnership development since the last CC Meeting in December 2020, endorsed the ‘Proposal on Capacity Building Needs Assessment for Effective Power Interconnection Cooperation in North-East Asia’ and the ‘GTI Regional Transport Strategy 2021-2024’, and welcomed the outcome of the ‘Project Report on Research on Enhancing Smart Agriculture in Greater Tumen Region’.
Furthermore, the invited officials shared the best practices and measures on resilient and sustainable recovery in Northeast Asia in the post-pandemic era. Mr. Anton Tsvetov (GTI National Coordinator of the Russian Federation) presented the outcome of the NEA Policy Dialogue on Sustainable Finance. Mr. Viktor Bardyuk (Director, the “Land of the Leopard” National Park) shared the best practices for NEA remote and rural areas. Ultimately, GTI’s expenditure report, budget proposal and the work plan for the period ahead were endorsed by the Members States.
Before the closing of the meeting, members adopted the Moscow Declaration*. The GTI CC Chairmanship was handed over to the Government of Mongolia and confirmed the 22nd CC meeting will be hosted and chaired by Mongolia in 2022 hopefully in person.
* Moscow Declaration: /?info-782-1.html