Moscow’s interest in the Far East isn’t new. The 2007 Program for Socio-Economic Development of the Far East and Baikal Region laid the groundwork, offering incentives for population growth and infrastructure development. In 2012, the Ministry for the Development of the Far East was created to coordinate federal initiatives. The Eastern Economic Forum (EEF), launched in Vladivostok in 2015, sought to attract foreign investment through tax incentives and priority development territories. It promised efficiency and reduced bureaucracy — a vision of rapid modernization. Yet, reality has lagged behind ambition.

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