vlad.tribnet.com / Issue #148 / Opinion / Reading article...

A recent conference on attracting investment came up with some ideas that Primorye companies and foreign firms should listen to. If the krai wants to attract further investment, attendants were told, companies must train employees, better disclose information to stockholders, and clarify the region's tumultuous legal environment.

The conference provided some sound advice for drawing much-needed cash to the krai. Too often, would-be investors are scared off by the perception that their money could disappear into a bottomless well. Disclosing information could help ease these fears. And rapidly changing tax laws can punish profitable companies. They also encourage a scofflaw attitude, in which companies do their best to conceal earnings.

But one of the best ideas to emerge was training workers. Despite the problems the nation faces, Russia has a well-educated populace. In order to keep that, it must find a way to pay its teachers – fairly and on time.

Another need is for retraining for adults who spent their lives working in a state-controlled economy that has now crumbled. It would be impossible for the government, which faces monumental budget problems, to do this alone.

This is where companies – including foreign firms – might be able to help. Let's hope they are willing to do so. Building a stable Russia is in everybody's interest, Russian and foreigner. And, as the conference suggests, there might even be some money to be made.