ASI will complement the investment climate rating with indicators measuring the quality of life
A key indicator of a posivite investment climate, according to investor surveys, is increasingly becoming the “quality of life”. This was reported by Svetlana Chupsheva, General Director of the Agency for Strategic Initiatives (ASI), at the Business Russia Forum in Moscow on February 6.
“We are used to measuring the investment climate with the volume of investments. But in reality, today that is not enough. When international consulting companies in the preparation of ratings conduct surveys of global investors - which is their priority when making decisions about investments, the quality of life of people, the urban environment comes first. These are the conditions that must meet the requirements of employees of the company, which comes to the region, their families. These are requests for a comfortable urban environment, social services, education and health care. Today it is important to create a favorable investment climate not for enterprises, but for people”, said the General Director of ASI.
Svetlana Chupsheva also noted that within the framework of the new national rating of the state of the investment climate in the regions of the Russian Federation, the ASI will conduct a “non-rating” survey on indicators affecting the quality of life.
"In these surveys we will use the minimum share of statistical data, and still rely on the survey indicators of residents, entrepreneurs who live in this region, use services, and who can objectively answer whether they are satisfied with these services, whether services are available for them , all the necessary infrastructure has been created and is working. This needs to be done in order to understand which development strategy in the regions should be built to increase investment and fulfill serious social obligations, she said.
According to the head of the ASI, not only the regions, but also the small towns along with their residents should be “involved” in this work. To this end, ASI launched the Urban Community Development Program “100 Urban Leaders”, which will allow urban activists to apply their talents and experience in solving real problems. “It is necessary to create such living conditions in Russian cities, thanks to which they will want to live and return there”, said Svetlana Chupsheva.
The head of Rospotrebnadzor, Anna Popova, turned to entrepreneurs with a proposal to engage in the development of an indicator by which to measure the quality of life of people in a particular territory.
“I am pleased that the focus is gradually shifting. Today, all the speakers mentioned the need to improve the quality of life. At the same time, we do not have a digital indicator by which we will measure the quality of life. Obviously, it will include many components. I suggest that business should develop an indicator that would include the interests of the state, business, and every person”, she said.
Olga Golodets, Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation, believes that culture can also act as a driver of economic growth in the regions.
“Business always relies on areas that have advantages, and culture in this sense retains its advantages. We easily attract people here, develop projects that are popular all over the world. From a cultural point of view, our country has unique competencies, attention to culture on the part of the state and the population does not weaken. For example, 140 million people visit museums a year. This is a huge number. Therefore, culture is a driver of economic growth, both throughout the country as a whole, and each region individually. This is what we are an order of magnitude stronger than almost all of our neighbors”, Ms. Golodets said.
