03 June 2004 23:22
Human resource development needed to double GDP - WB chief (part 2)
He said that the main aims set down in the presidential address to
the Federal Assembly were to ensure economic growth, attract
MOSCOW. June 3 (Interfax) - To achieve its task of doubling GDP, the Russian government should rely not only on
exploiting natural resources, but also on the development of human resource potential, World Bank President James
Wolfensohn said at the conference Corporate Governance and Economic Growth in Russia, which opened in Moscow on
Thursday.
investment, fight poverty and create conditions for improving the quality of life by improving healthcare and
education.
However, the World Bank chief believes that to achieve its aim of doubling GDP, over the next four years the
government will have to rely not only on natural resource exports, but also on human resources. He said that Russia has
enormous potential, enormous resources, and that it is necessary to do everything to include human, business and
corporate capital.
Wolfensohn said that many people continue to think that the Russian economy relies exclusively on oil resources, in
which the country is rich. However, he said that Russia has other hidden resources, that it needs to liberate.
Wolfensohn said that he thinks that the country's hidden capital - its greatest riches - are its human
resources. These resources need to be liberated, to ensure a powerful surge forward in the economy, he said.
He said that to make this surge, a certain amount of maturity and a certain level of corporate governance quality are
required at Russian companies.
Russia already has a legislative base for corporate governance, and now its needs to be improved, Wolfensohn
said.
Corporate governance issues are of vital importance to investors and for raising capital to the country. It is very
important for people not to doubt the quality of a company, with which they are linking their future in Russia, he
said.
The questions that will be openly discussed in Moscow on Thursday during the two-day corporate governance conference
will help toward creating an optimum business environment for small and mid-scale companies in Russia, he said.
The conference will enable Russia's business community to learn from the experiences of other countries in this
area, he said.
Wolfensohn compared the situation in Russia with that of China, which he visited several days ago and met with the
Chinese president, prime minister and economy minister. The problems they talked about were the same as those Russia
has: it is necessary to ensure economic growth to remove 400 million people from a state of poverty, he said.
This is to be achieved through the creation of industrially developed regions and the creation of terms for efficient
management and work in small and mid-scale companies, Wolfensohn said. [RU EUROPE ASIA EEU EMRG BNK] rd <>
[Interfax] |
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