Dmitry Medvedev attends the Business and Investment Summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)3 November 2019 13:00 Bangkok, Kingdom of Thailand
The discussion focused on Russia-ASEAN: Development of connectivity in the Eurasian space in the context of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
Dmitry Medvedev's remarks at 2019 ASEAN Business and Investment Summit:

Dmitry Medvedev speaking at the ASEAN Business and Investment Summit 2019
Ladies and gentlemen,
I am grateful for the opportunity to address the ASEAN Business and Investment Summit and present our vision for the regional and global economy's development amidst the Fourth Industrial Revolution to all those present here – businessmen, politicians and experts of the countries of Asia-Pacific region.
We are witnessing the development of a fundamentally new economic order, with digitisation rapidly infiltrating our lives. And this digital future is very close.
Just like other countries, Russia is seeking ways to adapt to new economic realities. On the digital world map, Russia ranks 7th in terms of human involvement in the digital economy. As regards the number of smartphone users, our country ranks 5th – in fact, we rank 5th in terms of gadget use.
We are taking active efforts to develop our communication infrastructure. Over 85 percent of Russian citizens take advantage of opportunities provided by the mobile web; some 70 percent of them use it daily. Our unlimited internet access rates are affordable as compared to other developed countries: it is nine times cheaper than in Japan, 14 times cheaper than in the US, and 17 times cheaper than in the Republic of Korea.
Our main aim is to create technologies that would benefit the people, make their lives more comfortable and save their time. And this is what our efforts are aimed at. Russia boasts strong schools in mathematics, physics, and information technologies. Russian professionals are in high demand among such information and IT giants as Google, Apple and Huawei – and, of course, this brings certain results as well.