Putin says migration to Far East should be stepped up

The Far East of Russia should develop rapidly, Russian President VladimirPutin said at the opening of a meeting dedicated to the issues of thesocial and economic situation in the Far East Federal District. Therepresentatives of the Russian government, state authorities, the SpecialPresidential Envoy's Office in the Far East, heads of the regions of thedistrict participated in this meeting. The Russian President pointed to the fact the transport infrastructure waspoorly developed in the Far East. The railroad network penetration is lowerthan the Russian average by 3.5 times. The highway network is poorlydeveloped, too. Foreign workers are forcing out Russians from the labormarket. According to the Russian President, it is necessary to step upmigration, while so far more people leave the region than the number ofthose who come there for good. The products of the Far East FederalDistrict should be Asian-Pacific countries' market-oriented and becompetitive. After his report, Putin yielded the floor to Senior Deputy Prime MinisterViktor Khristenko. .