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Science but not fiction: A new chapter of ASEAN-Russia partnership
Quantum wells, finite-valued functions and proton therapy cannot create the same amount of hype as talk of invasion, but can seriously improve our lives.
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Russia's Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev speaks at the ASEAN Business and Investment Summit in Bangkok on Nov. 3, 2019, on the sidelines of the 35th ASEAN Summit. (AFP/Lillian Suwanrumpha)
T
he hysteria around “a threat of a Russian invasion” of Ukraine is very entertaining indeed. We read media outlets as a fiction (not science fiction) book with new twists and turns offered by Western authors almost every day.
Quantum wells, finite-valued functions and proton therapy cannot create the same amount of hype, but can seriously improve our lives. So do cancer analytics, carbon neutrality, space exploration and artificial intelligence.
That is why all these and many other useful topics are included in the program of the ASEAN-Russia Year of Scientific and Technical Cooperation (ARYSTC) 2022, comprising more than 50 joint activities. We launched the year on Monday during the ceremony organized by our ASEAN country-coordinator Cambodia.
The Year of Scientific and Technical Cooperation is a big step toward further advancing the ASEAN-Russia strategic partnership, that will commemorate its fifth anniversary next year.
Since the third ASEAN-Russia Summit in Singapore in 2018, which elevated the status of our partnership to a strategic level, our relations with ASEAN have gone from strength to strength. We have launched the Consultations of High Representatives for Security Issues and the dialogue on ICT security issues, organized the first ASEAN-Russia naval exercise, signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on disaster management and elevated our dialogue on tourism to a ministerial level.
Now, we are happy to launch the biggest project in science and technology for more than 30 years in ASEAN-Russia relations, and we hope that it will greatly contribute to the fulfillment of the Comprehensive Plan of Action to Implement the ASEAN and Russia Strategic Partnership 2021- 2025.
Scientific and technical cooperation is a very good example of a positive unifying agenda that Russia is always promoting in the Asia-Pacific. Since 2019 we have launched courses for ASEAN specialists on responding to infectious diseases and proposed to establish a regional mechanism of emerging infectious diseases prevention and control within the East Asia Summit.
Last year we finalized a series of educational video films on technologies in wastewater treatment and water management of agricultural regions in ASEAN and launched a new project with ASEAN on technological solutions for smart cities.
There are numerous examples. The events throughout this year will build even stronger connections between universities, academics and the youth of our countries. Our joint efforts promote innovation-driven growth. Technological research and development capacity building and exchanges will assist in overcoming the pandemic, reaching the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), embracing the Fourth Industrial Revolution and creating new opportunities for sustainable economic development and prosperity of our people.
The possible impact of the ARYSTC goes far beyond the scope of science. Our businesses are ready to promote the expansion of science, technology and innovation start-ups into each other’s markets in order to encourage the cocreation of innovative tech solutions and products. To this end, Russia also established an office of the Trade Representative to ASEAN in Jakarta last year.
The foundation, laid throughout this year, can also become the solid ground for the future interactions between ASEAN and the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU). This will be discussed among other topics at the annual ASEAN-EAEU Business Dialogue within the program of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum this year.
The ASEAN-Russia Year of Scientific and Technical Cooperation is a positive and exciting endeavor we are looking forward to realizing with our ASEAN friends. And this is exactly what the region needs amid all anti-Russian propaganda by the West, the uncertainties and attempts to divide countries unworthy and the act of les miserables.
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The writer is Russian ambassador to ASEAN.
