Source: Valdai Club     Published:2020-12-05

The 11th Asian Conference of the Valdai Club, titled “Russia and Asia After the Pandemic”, will take place on December 9 and be open to the media.

For the first time in the history of the conference, the Club isn’t travelling to the region to host the event due to pandemic-related restrictions. The event will be held in a mixed format: some of the speakers will be present at the Valdai Club conference hall in Moscow, while the rest will join the discussion via videoconference. Despite the impossibility of in-person communication, the Valdai Club has managed to ensure that partner analytical centres throughout the Asia-Pacific region are widely represented this time. In total, about 20 experts from eight countries, including Russia, were invited to the conference. These include representatives of all the traditional partners of the Valdai Club, from Australia, Vietnam, India, Indonesia, China, the Republic of Korea and Japan.

Addressing the pandemic continues to be the focus of the Valdai Club, as well as the whole world, including the Asian region. As Russian President Vladimir Putin noted in his speech at the East Asia Summit, almost half of all cases of the new coronavirus infection were recorded there.

Within the framework of the conference, it is planned to analyse three main issues:

-Major losses and gains in 2020 for Russia and Asian countries;

-Development of the information technology and strategies of countries in the framework of the new global technological competition;

-Prospects for Russia’s integration into the Asia-Pacific after the pandemic.

The “turn to the East” policy, which Russia has been pursuing for more than 10 years, must inevitably take into account global changes and their impact on the region. Today Russia’s “turn” has become a reality, and its focus is shifting towards the full-fledged integration of Russia into the Asia-Pacific. Moscow and the Asian countries see Russia’s role in Asia as a positive alternative to a tough choice between China and the United States.

The Asian conference will be attended by recognised intellectuals from the region, diplomats, and experts in the field of geopolitics and international relations. Our guests include Wang Wen, Executive Dean of the Chongyang Institute for Financial Research at the Renmin University of China (RDCY); Hongyul Han, Professor of Economics at the Republic of Korea’s Hanyang University; Latha Reddy, Honorary Researcher at the ORF (India), Taisuke Abiru, Senior Research Fellow at the Sasakawa Peace Foundation in Japan, and others.

On the Russian side, the conference will be attended by Andrey Bystritskiy, Chairman of the Board of the Foundation for Development and Support of the Valdai Discussion Club; Fyodor Lukyanov, Research Director of the Valdai Discussion Club; Timofei Bordachev, Programme Director of the Valdai Discussion Club; Alexander Lomanov, Deputy Director for Research at IMEMO RAS; Anastasia Likhacheva, Director of the Centre for Comprehensive European and International Studies (CCEIS) at the National Research University Higher School of Economics, and others.

Information for the media: for accreditation, you must fill out the form on our website.

Accreditation will last until 18:00 Moscow time (GMT+3) on December 8.

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