News

Monday 17 February 2020

Conference "Countries of the East in the 21st Century: Uneven Economic Growth and Inequality of Socio-Economic Development"

 
On February 17th, 2020, the Institute of Oriental Studies (the Russian Academy of Sciences) hosted the All-Institute Scientific Conference "Countries of the East in the 21st Century: Uneven Economic Growth and Inequality in Socio-Economic Development", dedicated to the memory of Victor Rastyannikov, the famous economist and orientalist.

The conference aroused great interest in the scientific community of economists-orientalists. In total, about 100 people took part in the conference, 50 of them made reports. The participants were speakers from 15 universities and research scientific-educational centers of Russia: Moscow, St. Petersburg, Novosibirsk, Irkutsk, Uzbekistan, and the Republic of Korea.

The conference was organized by the Economics Research Department of the Institute of Oriental Studies. The event was carried out in three sections:

• Economic Growth in the Countries of the East at the Beginning of the 21st Century: Theory and Practice
• Uneven Economic Growth in Asia and Africa
• Inequality in Socio-Economic Development in Asia and Africa

The conference was opened by Alexander Zheleznyakov, the Deputy Director of the Institute of Oriental Studies, and Natalya Romanova, the Scientific Work Deputy Director of the Institute of Oriental Studies. A.S. Zheleznyakov noted the contribution of V.G. Rastyannikov into Russian oriental studies of economics and emphasized the acuteness of international socio-economic issues that were raised at the conference. N.G. Romanova concentrated in her speech on the memories of V.G. Rastyannikov not only as a well-known scientist, but also as a veteran of the Great Patriotic War.

Within the framework of the conference section "Economic Growth in the Countries of the East at the Beginning of the 21st Century: Theory and Practice" the issues of comparative analysis of the most important parameters and social consequences of economic growth in developing and developed countries were discussed; the latest concepts of development and social evolution in the Asian countries (Turkey, Iran, Pakistan, India, GCC countries).  At the section much attention was paid to the transition of Asian countries to an innovative model of development, in particular, in Japan, China, Israel, and the Republic of Korea. At the section the following  scenarios were presented: the long-term social consequences of the economic inequality formation in the context of labor-saving technologies development. 

The section "Uneven Economic Growth in Asian and African Countries" was devoted to the topics of regional uneven economic growth in the certain sectors of the world economy: in agriculture, mining, transport, and energy. The most acute problems of socio-economic development were raised, that were formed due to structural uneven economic growth in certain countries, in particular, in Pakistan, India, Egypt, the Maghreb countries, Yemen, Indonesia, Cambodia, Iraq, and Libya.

At the section "Inequality of Socio-Economic Development in Asia and Africa" the following topics were considered: the factors determining inequality in socio-economic development in Asian and African countries, income differentiation in the countries of the East and the problem of social justice, the instruments of state tax policy to reduce inequality. The discussion of these issues aroused great interest: social stratification and inequality in Japan, the impact of global upheaval on the growth of economic inequality in the countries of the world in the 21st century.

At the end of the conference, gratitude was expressed to the organizing committee: Akimov A.V., Doctor of Economics, Deryugina I.V. (chairman) Ph.D. , Rastyannikova E.V., Ph.D., Shchepilova E.F.