CHELYABINSK, June 9 Close interaction between science, business and government will ensure the fulfillment of all tasks to accelerate the technological development of Russia, said Alexei Teksler, Governor of the Chelyabinsk Region.
«What is important today for the real achievement of technological sovereignty: first, it is necessary to develop our own scientific, personnel and technological base in terms of critical and end-to-end technologies, and second, to create a comfortable regulatory environment both for development and for their implementation in production, and to expand production high-tech products,» the head of the region said on Friday at the plenary session of the II All-Russian Forum «From Import Substitution to Technological Sovereignty» in Chelyabinsk.
According to him, resources, at the same time — personnel, organizational, financial — are not unlimited, therefore, it is especially important to choose and identify priorities that business will continue to focus on. «These priorities should, among other things, form a long-term order for the development and implementation of technologies and give impetus to the development of a number of important industries through the launch of specific projects of high-tech products, necessary components and components,» Texler said.
The head of the region explained that one cannot do without spare parts, assemblies and parts, and cited technological sovereignty projects that should be supported through all federal and regional instruments. Among them are the projects of the Ural Automobile Plant, Sinara Holding, Konar Industrial Group, PJSC MMK, Modern Glass, Sitno, and Android Technology. «Our work in the economy gives a systematic result. The gross regional product last year amounted to more than 2.1 trillion rubles. We see a positive trend in industrial production, the industrial production index for January-April this year is almost 108 percent compared to the same period last year, in manufacturing growth was almost 10 percent, and we will do everything to maintain and increase these rates,» the governor said.
Noting the results of the two days of the forum, Texler explained that there are several well-established areas. «Exchange. Yesterday showed that entrepreneurs signed dozens of contracts, some did not know about each other (previously), the amounts amount to billions of rubles. Plus, they have developed proposals, clarifications, changes in the regulatory framework, which will allow import substitution to be accelerated … In total, two days give a serious result … We will definitely hold forums every year,» he told reporters.
According to Vladimir Yakushev, Plenipotentiary Representative of the President of the Russian Federation in the Ural Federal District, the Urals and Western Siberia are historically famous for their scientists, industrialists, and inventors. «Our enterprises, the scientific community make a significant contribution to the import substitution. Today at the exhibition we were convinced of this. There are a lot of interesting proposals, young, interested guys motivated to change our lives for the better. We need to build a well-coordinated interaction between education and science and business,» Yakushev said. The plenipotentiary added that the venue for the forum is good and successful. «… Without unnecessary discussions, the contractor and the customer can meet and talk … As for the forum, we live in these issues every day and understand the problems,» he explained.
Minister of Industry, New Technologies and Natural Resources of the region Pavel Ryzhiy added that the industrial production index in the region in April 2023 exceeded 7% compared to April last year. «This is a good indicator. We see an increase in production. Not only mining, but also growth in the manufacturing industry. Complex processing methods are growing here, which will form the basis for technological sovereignty,» he told reporters.
Director of the Chelyabinsk Region Industry Development Fund Sergey Kazakov added that about 1.5 thousand people took part in the forum. «More than 300 negotiations have been held, applications worth one billion rubles have been submitted… These are good results for the scale of small and medium-sized businesses. Over 60 percent of the participants said they found each other…» he explained to reporters.