The XXII annual meeting of the Russian-American Pacific Partnership will be held in the capital of the republic on July 19-20. The number of invited private business representatives from the US depends on how precise the inquiry will be sent by the Yakut companies. This was reported by Derek Norberg, Executive Director of the RAPP Secretariat.

Reference: The Russian-American Pacific Partnership was established in 1995. The activities of RAPP are aimed at developing trade and investment cooperation between the Far Eastern regions of Russia and the Pacific states of the US.  Currently, it is a bilateral forum engaging the private-sector and government to identify and address barriers to business and commerce between the Russian East and the United States. RAPP meetings are held alternately in Russia and the United States. In 2015, the event took place in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk. Last year, the RAPP meeting in San Francisco (USA), was attended by a representative delegation of Yakutia, headed by First Deputy Prime Minister Aleksey Kolodeznikov. At the meetings, special attention is paid to energy and energy saving, transport and tourism.

- How long has the cooperation between the Russian-American Pacific Partnership (RAPP) and Yakutia been going on?

- We have been actually working with the republic within the framework of RAPP for more than 5 years. Yakutia takes an active part in the annual meetings. Not only government officials take part in our meetings but also business circles of private business. Your region always sends authoritative delegations that make a great and useful contribution to the discussion. During last year's forum, Yakutia announced that it is interested in holding an annual final meeting on its territory.

A year ago in the republic, with Deputy Director of the Department of the RF Ministry of Economic Development Dmitry Sazhin we held preliminary talks with Deputy Prime Minister of the RS (Y) Igor Nikiforov.  We continued our cooperation throughout the year. I believe that this forum will be useful for maintaining good relations between the regions of the Far East and the western coast of the United States.

- Is there tension between the RAPP participants due to the deterioration in relations between the United States and Russia?

- We cannot ignore political phenomena, but we cannot say that Yakutia does not have friendly relations with the states of Alaska, Washington or California. For 22 years we have been working on the formation and strengthening of healthy relations between our regions. In the West, there are many factors affecting relations between Moscow and Washington, but in the Pacific area they are much lesser.

At this stage, our states are looking for ways to normalize relations, and I think that the regions of the Far East and the western coast of the United States can play a special role in this process. The meeting itself is also of particular relevance in the establishment of our relations and their return to a more pragmatic channel.

- What issues will be discussed at the upcoming meeting?

- Together with our partners from the Department for External Relations of Yakutia, we determine the most pressing topics for inclusion in the agenda. And every year we choose thematic directions for a separate consideration. Naturally, thanks to the fact that the meeting will be held in the republic, we will pay special attention to its interests, but at the same time we will cover the spheres important for other regions of the Far East and the USA. We always try to make sure that the meeting is most useful for all participants.

In any case, when considering the interests of countries, it becomes clear that the Arctic issue is very relevant, and the last three years we have always singled out a separate session on the Arctic. We visited Arkhangelsk a few days ago, and, of course, we understand that for many regions these issues are important. But the coordination of our approaches to their solution is of great importance both at the regional level and at the federal level.

Traditional topics are the Arctic, transport, tourism and energy.

- Last year, it was reported that the forum will discuss joint investment projects in various fields. Is it so?

- This is not exactly an investment forum where we promote specific projects that need financing. I still recommend using it as a mechanism for discussing and highlighting unique approaches to various issues.

Nevertheless, no one bans talking about joint investment projects. It is important to note that in the framework of the forum will be held sessions, presentations, coffee breaks, and receptions. What people hear at presentations is one thing, but direct communication is also very important. We always try to make breaks between sessions, so that the participants can have an opportunity to show themselves in live communication.

- Can you single out any results of RAPP's work?

- I'm not saying that we immediately resolve any issues. Sometimes our recommendations are considered for years. But the effectiveness of the forum is quite high. We once solved a number of problems associated with the Sakhalin project (Sakhalin-2 is the largest private investment project in Russia, including the construction and operation of world-class technology facilities for the extraction and export of crude oil and natural gas), visa regime and border areas.

One of the results of discussions within RAPP was a charter flight from Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky to Anchorage (USA, Alaska). "Yakutia" Airline opened flights on this route in July 2012. Immediately after Alaska Airlines left this route, we tackled the issue of its restoration. There was an opinion that this was a loss-making route, but in the end it turned out that the airline was simply profitable to use its fleet for flights to the resorts of Mexico. That process took 10 years, if not more.

- How likely is it that the forum will bring together a large number of representatives of the private sector from the US?

- If companies from the United States receive an invitation from me and the Yakut company, this increases their interest. Especially in the event that your party sends a request for discussion of specific items. A full list of enterprises will be formed during the registration process, but I can say for sure that there are those who always support our forum and participate in meetings. For example, General Electric, CISCO Systems.

Understanding what opportunities there are in the republic will be an important factor for the arrival of American companies at the meeting in Yakutsk. This does not mean that they must necessarily guarantee cooperation in any direction, it is necessary to provide information about what opportunities there are in the republic. Then everything depends on the participants.

The Department for External Relations and the Organizing Committee for RAPP are always open to ensure interaction between business representatives from different countries. I want to clarify that RAPP is not only an excellent annual meeting, we work throughout the year, we are ready to promote the rapprochement of business circles and to organize specific meetings for companies from Yakutia with representatives of the American private sector.

By Grigory Fomenko

YSIA