Russia's textile industry needs new technologies

The town of Plyos, the Ivanovo region of Russia, hosted The Golden Ring Forum on September 7-8. The forum was held to discuss mechanisms to support complex investment and innovative projects in textile and light industries under Russia's accession to the WTO.

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Deputy Industry and Trade Minister of the Russian Federation Georgy Kalamanov said during the forum that Russia had obtained knowledge before joining the WTO. "The light industry is among the top three industries that are exposed to risks most in connection with Russia's accession to the WTO, and the task of the state is to minimize these risks," he said.

Deputy Chairman of the Federation Council Committee on Economic Policy, Yuri Roslyak, noted that one had to have innovative transformations in the Russian light industry. He expressed the need to avoid the dependence of raw materials supplies and move towards the diversification of raw materials. The official spoke in support of the Ivanovo region plant for the production of synthetic fibers.

The Governor of the Ivanovo Region, Mikhail Men, said that the regional administration pinned great hopes on the project of the synthetic fiber plant, which is going to be built in the region. The region has been preparing to implement the project for several years already. The projected capacity of the plant is 200 tons of synthetic fiber per year. This amount will satisfy the needs of Russia in this raw material entirely.

A member of the Expert Advisory Council under Russia's Federation Council, Igor Filkevich, described the processes that accompany Russia's accession to the WTO. The official also spoke about the membership benefits in the organization and the peculiarities of Russia's accession to the WTO. According to him, the subjects of the country need to have adaptation strategies for regional and business development. They need to estimate the opportunities for using special protective, antidumping and countervailing measures.

The project for the construction of the plant for the production of synthetic fibers in the Ivanovo region is strategically important for the future development of the domestic textile industry, ministerial officials say. The ministry is ready to do everything to facilitate the implementation of the project in the Ivanovo region. "The project is a large-scale one. Its implementation requires about ten billion rubles, so one needs to have all resources involved, including the private sector," said Kalamanov.

The deputy minister said that new technologies were vital to meet domestic producers' urgent needs in raw materials. Georgy Kalamanov stressed that it was important to implement the project in the next few years, as such raw materials are imported at present. This gap has to be filled, the official believes. "During the discussions at the forum, we tried to develop a recipe for promoting this project," he said.

The Ivanovo region plans to participate in a number of federal programs to bring infrastructure to large industrial facilities. This would solve a number of problems on the project.