Russia is working to include Vietnam, Thailand and Indonesia as intermediate stops of the Eastern Maritime Corridor connecting Vladivostok with Chennai as part of efforts to boost India’s business connections with resource-rich Far East.
According to Russian Far East Minister Alexey Chekunkov, currently, the Far Eastern Shipping Company (FESCO) is actively working on this arrangement and the Indian entities are also involved in this initiative.
This week’s Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok will also enable Russia and India to explore joint shipbuilding projects at Indian shipyards.
At the July annual summit the two countries signed the India-Russia Cooperation Programme in Trade, Economic and Investment Spheres in the Russian Far East for 2024-2029, as well as the Principles for Cooperation in the Russian Arctic Region.
“The trade turnover between the Far East and India ports exceeds one billion dollars, excluding oil and special-purpose goods. Therefore, the logistical aspect of this agreement is very important; it allows for the development of trade between the Far East and India, as well as the countries of Southeast Asia as a whole,” Alexey Chekunkov, Minister of Development of the Russian Far East and the Arctic recently stated.
He said that work is being done to include Vietnam, Thailand and Indonesia in the routes between Russia-India as part of intermediate stops of the Eastern Maritime Corridor.
Folllowing the annual summit in Moscow in July, the two sides are expediting complete implementation of Vladivostok-Chennai Eastern Maritime Corridor and linking it with the resource rich Arctic region.
India-Russia also plans a joint shipbuilding project for maritime trade, it has been learnt.
India has plans for a Trans-shipment hub in the Bay of Bengal. While Vladivostok-Chennai Eastern Maritime Corridor has started functioning additional infrastructure needs to be put in place in Chennai for handling additional trade volume.