Yugra-'11 int'l investment forum opens in Khanty-Mansiisk Wed.

TYUMEN, October 12 (Itar-Tass) - The 6th International investment
forum "Yugra-2011" opens in Khany-Mansiisk, the principal city of the
Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Area (KMAA) (popularly known as Yugra) on
Wednesday.
According to organizers, more than 300 specialists from various
regions of Russia and other countries will take part in the forum. Special
attention will be devoted to energy- and resource-saving projects, the
development of the infrastructure of the region, the construction of
kindergartens, schools and other social welfare facilities.
Yugra Governor Natalya Komarova says the forum is part of a package of
measures aimed at improving the investment attractiveness of the region.
"This is KMAA's first event on such a scale in the post-crisis period.
We must use this opportunity to the full, first of all, for increasing the
number of sources of growth for our priority sectors, and attracting new
partners for joint work on current projects, including that on the
principles of State-and-private partnership," Komarova said.
The principal aim of the forum is to organize an international center
for contacts between representatives of Russian and foreign oil and gas
businesses, the expert community, and state-run organizations. The Russian
Ministries of Economic Development, Energy, Natural Resources and Ecology,
Regional Development, Finance, and Industry and Trade are among
participants in the forum.
Forum organizers expect to make full use of this floor for a
comprehensive presentation of the resources of each economic cluster of
Yugra. Basic among them is a fuel-and-energy cluster, whose potential to
raise efficiency is concentrated in many respects in the rational uses of
associated petroleum gas. The development of forest resources is another
important investment area for Yugra. KMAA potential in this respect is
unique: slightly more than three million cubic metres of wood are used so
far out of 25.1 million cu. m. of the so-called rated wood cutting. One of
the main points of the timber-industry modernization programme, which is
being implemented in the region, is to create conditions for a full cycle
of wood processing.
The forum will run till Oct 14.