ASTANA, 13 October (BelTA) – There is a need to revise the principles of the global financial system, which, for decades, has allowed the so-called ‘golden billion' to live largely at the expense of others, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in his opening statement at the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia (CICA) in Astana, Kazakhstan on 13 October, BelTA has learned.
The Russian leader noted that the summit is taking place at a time of serious changes in global politics and economy: "The world is becoming truly multipolar. Asia, where new centers of power are growing stronger, is playing a very noticeable, if not key, role in this.”
Vladimir Putin believes that Asian countries are the locomotive of world economic growth. "We stand for the development and prosperity of Asia, the creation of a wide open space of mutually beneficial trade and investment cooperation, and the expansion and deepening of cooperation ties in various sectors of the economy."
Russia, according to Vladimir Putin, together with other Asian states, is doing everything to form a system of equal and indivisible security based on the universally recognized principles of international law, the UN Charter.
CICA is engaged in solving many pressing problems, the Russian president noted. Among such problems is the increased volatility of world prices for energy, food, fertilizers, raw materials and other important goods, which leads to a deterioration in living standards in both developed and developing countries. There are dangers of famine and social upheavals.
The Russian head of state called for the elimination of all artificial, illegitimate barriers that impede the restoration of the normal functioning of global supply chains in order to solve urgent problems in food security.
"Like many our partners in Asia, we believe that it is necessary to launch a revision of the principles of the global financial system, which, for decades, allowed the self-proclaimed so-called ‘golden billion', that keep all flows of capital and technology under their exclusive authority, to live largely at someone else's expense," Vladimir Putin stressed. “We see a more active use of national currencies in mutual settlements as a priority step.” In his opinion, such measures would undoubtedly contribute towards strengthening the financial sovereignty of the CICA states, developing domestic capital markets, and advancing regional economic integration.
Among the most pressing challenges to the security of the region, Vladimir Putin named Afghanistan where a series of bloody terrorist attacks continues. In order to normalize the situation in that country, he proposed to assist the economic recovery by joint efforts. "But first of all, we urge to compensate for the damage caused to Afghanistan during the years of occupation and to unfreeze the Afghan funds blocked illegally," the Russian head of state said.
