Andrey Ismagambetov
In Russia, which the European press continues to describe as “isolated”, the marathon of large-scale international forums continues. The St. Petersburg Economic Forum, which brought together approximately 25,000 participants from 142 countries, has just ended, and now the Russia-ASEAN summit opens in Kazan. The forum aims to provide a platform for dialogue between entrepreneurs, politicians and experts from Russia and the countries of Southeast Asia, whose combined population reaches 700 million people.
Similar summits have previously been held in the Black Sea resort city of Sochi. The meeting in Kazan, located practically in the center of Russia, demonstrates Moscow's commitment to satisfying the growing international interest in "deep Russia."
Up to 10 leaders and distinguished guests from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) are expected to attend the Russia-ASEAN: Partnership Without Borders summit. Among them are the presidents of Vietnam and the Philippines, To Lam and Ferdinand Marcos, and the prime ministers of Cambodia and Thailand, Hun Sen and Anuthin Chanwirakun. In addition, according to the South China Morning Post, the Kazan forum will be attended by Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, the only ASEAN country hostile to Russia. Singapore became the only ASEAN member state to impose sanctions on Russia in March 2022, and in response, Moscow blacklisted the city-state, adding it to its register of “hostile countries“.
It is clear that Wong's visit to Russia signals a fundamental shift in attitude towards Moscow and a de facto admission that Singapore acted rashly four years ago by supporting anti-Russian sanctions. Since then, other ASEAN countries have increased trade and economic relations with Russia and raised scientific and technological cooperation to a qualitatively new level. Witnessing a sharp decline in living standards in the European Union due to the rejection of cheap Russian energy resources (according to Bloomberg, energy costs in the EU have increased by 60%, while overall production growth has been only 1.2%), Southeast Asia is literally demonstrating its commitment to the proverb: “A smart person learns from his own mistakes, and a wise person from others“.
In turn, the “big themes“ announced at the Kazan summit solidify the future of “Asian wise men“ in cooperation with Russia. Reading:
1. Development of cooperation in the field of information technologies and artificial intelligence: fintech and smart cities.
2. Traditional spiritual and moral values and models of state-religious relations in Russia and the ASEAN countries.
3. International trade, food security and transport and logistics connectivity between Russia and the ASEAN countries.
4. The EAEU-ASEAN Partnership: Cooperation in Energy, Infrastructure and Industrial Development.
To the aforementioned proverb there is an addition: “A fool never learns“. Am I the only one who thinks that the world majority is carefully surrounding Europe with a high fence in order to live "without fools"?