Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's recent visit to the Primorye Territory highlighted the special importance the Russian government has attached to economic development in the Far East region.

Putin's visit

During his visit on December 28-29, Putin attended inauguration ceremonies for a Pacific oil pipeline, a drilling rig and a auto plant.

On Monday, Putin hosted the launch of the first section of the Eastern Siberia-Pacific Ocean (ESPO) pipeline.

"It is an important event for Russia. It is a strategic project, which enables (Russia) to enter new markets in the Asia-Pacific region," Putin said at a ceremony at an oil terminal in the port of Kozmino near the Pacific city of Vladivostok.

Putin started the oil pipeline transportation system, allowing oil to be pumped to the first tanker.

The 4,000-km pipeline is designed to pump up to a daily 1.6 million barrels of crude oil from Siberia to the Far East and then to the Asia-Pacific region.

Putin said the project will inject a new impetus to Far Eastern and Siberian development and could create more than 3,000 new jobs.

On the same day, Putin attended an opening ceremony for a semi-submersible drilling rig at the Zvezda shipbuilding plant in the town of Bolshoi Kamen.

"It is the first step to start a new production facility," Putin told workers at the plant.

With the involvement of foreign companies, he said, the plant will make civilian vessels including tankers, adding that total investments would run to 400 million U.S. dollars.

On Tuesday, Putin inaugurated the Sollers auto plant in Vladivostok, which will produce Korean SsangYong SUVs, Japanese Isuzu trucks and vehicles for special use with Fiat Ducato chassis, with an investment of up to 169 million dollars.

The assembly plant has an initial annual capacity of 15,000 units, which is expected to expand to 40,000 by 2012.

Development strategy to 2025

During his visit, Putin announced that a development strategy for the Far East and the Baikal regions to 2025 has been laid out. The ultimate aim of the strategy is "to guarantee sustained economic development and a comfortable living environment for the people," he said.

The strategy defines future needs including transportation and energy, in such regions as the Far East, Irkutsk, Buryat and Transbaikal territory. It also proposes the setting up of economic growth zones.

Underdeveloped compared to other parts of Russia, the Far East and Baikal regions make only a negligible contribution to the national economy despite their abundant resources including tin, diamond and gold and fisheries.

According to media reports, the Russian government has a two-phase plan for the development of these regions.

In the first phase from 2009 to 2015, the government will increase investments in innovative and energy-efficient technologies.

In the second phase from 2016 to 2020, the government will primarily implement major investment projects in energy and transportation, and will also greatly expand exports of downstream products.

The Russian government is pinning hopes for further development of the Far East on regional economic integration with the Asia-Pacific region, as well as on the promotion of new energy and transportation technologies, the reports said.