Statement by H.E. Mr. Anton Siluanov, the Minister of Finance of the Russian Federation and the Governor for Russia to NDB at the Opening Ceremony of the 11th Board of Governors Annual Meeting

As Chair of the Board of Governors of the New Development Bank, I am pleased to welcome you to the 11th Annual Meeting of the Bank. We held the first meeting of the Board of Governors of the New Development Bank in Moscow in 2015, and today we are holding the Annual Meeting here. This year, we face an important task – to determine the trajectory of the Bank’s development for the next five years.

Over the past 15 years, the economies of developing countries have been growing faster than those of developed countries by 2.5 percentage points annually. Maintaining such dynamics requires investment in high-tech infrastructure. This concerns not only roads, ports, energy and water supply, but also the introduction of a digital component, which makes it possible to reduce costs, increase capacity and improve labor productivity.

It is advanced technologies – artificial intelligence, new materials and energy solutions – that today provide the greatest multiplier effect in the economy. At the same time, developing countries receive a greater effect from increased public spending on R&D than other countries. Let me give you the figures: every dollar spent by a developing country on science and R&D generates about 2.3 dollars of GDP growth, whereas in developed countries this figure is approximately three times lower. In turn, every dollar invested in fundamental scientific discoveries, according to our estimates, is capable of bringing up to 11 dollars of gross domestic product growth. And the involvement of private capital in science-intensive developments and fundamental discoveries is a key factor.