Survey on Business Conditions of Japanese Companies in Russia in 2017 (December 2017)

The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development has prepared analytical research on business support mechanisms to avoid insolvency during the COVID-19 crisis. The slowdown of economic activity caused by the COVID-19 outbreak and related emergency measures implemented to tackle the health crisis have led to severe difficulties for companies to meet their financial obligations. Many of the fixed costs, such as rents and interest payments, remain due while the cash flow destined to meet these obligations has vanished. As a result, many otherwise sound companies are facing acute liquidity constraints that eventually might become solvency problems.

Shigeru Murayama, the President of the Japan Association for Trade with Russia and the Newly Independent States (ROTOBO), talks about how to iron out economic fluctuations, increase the competitive attractiveness of the Far Eastern advanced special economic zones (ASEZs), and introduce high-tech Japanese developments to Russia.

The pandemic has sent shockwaves through the global economy, and has delivered a clear message to all nations: there can be no future without international cooperation, digitalization, and high-quality healthcare. It is not enough to possess rich reserves of natural resources — steps also need to be taken to boost investment initiatives and enact positive social change. Today, these aims are beginning to be fulfilled with the introduction of advanced special economic zones and other incentives in the Russian Far East.

The September issue of the monthly official bulletin of the Ministry for Development of the Russian Far East was published on the threshold of the Eastern Economic Forum 2018 (EEF 2018) and gives a digest of news relating to the life and economic development of the Russian Far East for the period from EEF 2017 to EEF 2018.