Mr Putin’s visit to Australia is the first by the Russian leader. Early speculation in the Australian media is that the prize he seeks at APEC is Russia’s long-awaited entree to the World Trade Organisation. WTO membership would mean that the ruble would be recognised for for all foreign trade .. that the it was a “hard” currency. The delay in admitting Russia was due to Moscow’s reluctance to comply with the entire list of WTO demands, which were: unfettered access by foreign capital to Russian labour, businesses, real estate and resources, in other words, total surrender to globalisation and the rule of the US dollar.
This did not happen. In the years of waiting, Putin re-nationalised the Russian oil and gas industries effectively reclaiming them from the globalists who arrived after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, resulting in Russia accumulating large reserves of US$ and euro which are now comparable in size with those held by China and Japan. Export oil can now be purchased with rubles, and the Russian currency can now be regarded as a hard currency in its own right, so it would appear that the globalists have overplayed their hand, much as they did with China, another communist nation demonstrating an ability to out-capitalist the capitalists. This being so, WTO membership is unlikely the main concern of Putin’s high-level delegation.
Putin’s statement of his hopes for APEC appears in the NZ Herald (here). It reveals that Russia will certainly play a major role in what he rightly calls “the most promising economic group on the planet”. But for Australia, Russia is likely to be more of an economic competitor than a trading partner on the scale of China or Japan, because, like us, the Russians are suppliers of raw materials. Greater trade is possible in commodities such as oil and timber, and manufactures like aircraft, maritime equipment, and space technology, in which fields the Russians are world leaders. Russia has more to sell to us than we to them, though surely we can sell wine and fresh agricultural produce into their northern winter. Things like fashion, tourism, video and music could balance trade. There are also opportunities for Australian companies in port infrastructure and material handling equipment needed for the development and transport of Siberian resources. Incidentally, Vladivostock, the North Pacific port city which gives outlet to Russian manufactures and Siberian commodities, is tipped as the venue for the next APEC meeting.
Big Island welcomes Russia’s remarkable leader to Australia, and thanks him for his forevision of the economic and social environment we could be dealing with in a post-Howard, post-Bush, and possibly post-$US Pacific.
Footnote: Vladimir Putin attended the APEC meeting and was cheerfully and respectfully received by his Australian hosts. It is an Australia custom to arrive at parties bearing a bottle. In this case, the bottle-bearer was Alexander Downer, the Australian Foreign Minister, and the bottle was Grange Hermitage, which is considered the best Australian long-vintaged red. More about Grange here.
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