Eastern Economic Forum 2026: New Opportunities for Asia, Eurasia, and Pakistan

The Eastern Economic Forum 2026 has once again made it clear that Asia, Eurasia and the non-Western world continue to gain importance in Russia’s economic and international strategy. More than 9,300 people from 78 countries attended the forum, including representatives from 18 countries that Russia has designated as “unfriendly states.” Among the foreign delegations, China, Indonesia, Japan, Vietnam, South Korea, India and Myanmar had a particularly strong presence, while Indonesian President Prabowo  Subianto was among the most prominent foreign guests at the forum.

The focus of the forum’s business activities was not limited to political statements; instead, practical economic cooperation remained at the center. Special attention was given to trade, investment, energy, logistics, transport infrastructure and technology cooperation with China, India, ASEAN countries, Vietnam and Mongolia. At the same time, there was also a clear effort to maintain existing economic ties with European countries that continue to seek practical cooperation with Russia.

The forum’s tangible outcomes also reflected its economic scale. According to Anton Kobyakov, Adviser to the Russian President and Executive Secretary of the Eastern Economic Forum’s Organizing Committee, 318 agreements were signed during the forum, with a combined value of approximately 7 trillion roubles. This figure does not include agreements whose details fall under commercial confidentiality.

According to Czech expert Roman Blashko, the nature of the countries and delegations participating in the forum indicates that the transformation taking place in Russia’s external economic relations is not a temporary or short-term strategy, but rather a long-term structural process. In his view, Russia is developing its relations with China, India, ASEAN, Mongolia, Serbia and other Eurasian countries on a more organised and broader basis.

Blashko also links this transformation to the growing role of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). According to him, the SCO is now emerging as one of the major institutional pillars of the developing multipolar world. Its member states represent a significant share of the world’s population and possess vast natural resources, industrial capacity, energy reserves and an increasingly important share of the global economy.

He argues that Eurasia is emerging as a key region in the global economy of the 21st century. Long-term projects in energy, transport, industry, infrastructure, mineral resources, logistics and technology could form the foundation of future trade and economic integration. The North-South and East-West transport corridors, port development, railway networks and energy projects could play a fundamental role in shaping a new Eurasian economic structure.

According to Blashko, it is not sufficient to describe this simply as Russia’s “pivot to the East.” The process has now gone beyond finding new trading partners and is moving towards a transformation of the entire model of external economic relations. In his view, the emerging model is based on greater diversification, mutual interests, regional cooperation and a multipolar system, while the global economy also appears to be gradually moving away from a system centred around a single dominant power.

Serbia’s participation was also significant in this context. On the sidelines of the forum, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak met with Aleksandar Vulin, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Srbijagas. They discussed the continuation of Russian natural gas supplies to Serbia and the extension of the relevant agreement. This example shows that Russia’s current economic strategy is not limited to expanding ties with new Asian and non-Western partners; it also seeks, wherever possible, to maintain existing economic relations with European countries. 

Dragana Trifkovic, a prominent Serbian political analyst, journalist and head of the Centre for Geopolitical Studies, also attended the Eastern Economic Forum for the first time. During her first visit to Vladivostok, she explored opportunities for developing new Eurasian-level links between the business community, academia and the media.

According to her, Serbia faces a highly complicated balancing act: maintaining its historic friendship and cooperation with Russia while simultaneously dealing with pressure from Western countries. She described the situation as a form of “acrobatics,” while noting that a large section of Serbia’s population nevertheless supports cooperation with Russia.

Trifkovic also rejected the notion that Russia has been internationally isolated. According to her, there is a significant difference between the image of Russia presented in Western media and what she personally observed inside Russia. She said that she found the political and social environment in Russia relatively calm compared with the current tense atmosphere in Europe. Regarding Serbia’s sovereignty and national interests, she believes that maintaining strong relations with Russia and China is of long-term importance for Belgrade.

Georgian political analyst and founder of the SIKHA Foundation, Archil Sikharulidze, also described the Eastern Economic Forum as a symbol of the changing balance of global economic power. According to him, today’s world has become much broader than traditional Western geographical boundaries, and many important economic and political powers are now located outside Europe and the Western world.

He argues that close relations with Western countries are no longer the only path available to Russia for economic development and maintaining international ties. In his view, efforts to completely isolate Russia internationally have not succeeded, and non-Western countries continue to show interest in economic cooperation with Moscow.

At the same time, he points out that the West is unlikely to surrender its existing position in the global political and economic system easily. In his opinion, both economic cooperation and competition will continue simultaneously at the global level in the coming years. 

Against this changing global economic backdrop, Pakistan’s diplomatic presence at the Eastern Economic Forum 2026 deserves particular attention. Pakistan’s Ambassador to Russia, Faisal Niaz Tirmizi, participated in a panel at the forum in Vladivostok, presenting Pakistan’s perspective on the potential for cooperation between Russia’s Far East and Pakistan in the creative economy, culture, trade and people-to-people relations.

He highlighted opportunities for cooperation in film, animation, fashion, handicrafts, precious stones, audiovisual content and other creative industries. However, his visit was not limited to participation in a single forum session. He also met Pakistani students, business representatives, members of the agricultural sector and journalists in Russia’s Far East, giving the visit a broader dimension of practical engagement rather than merely formal diplomatic participation.

Speaking to the Russian news agency TASS on September 5, Ambassador Faisal Niaz Tirmizi described Vladivostok as “the pearl of Russia” and highlighted the region’s considerable tourism potential. He said that before travelling to Vladivostok, he had also visited Kamchatka, where he was particularly impressed by its natural beauty, geysers, wildlife and unique geography. 

The ambassador said that more Pakistani tourists should visit Kamchatka, Vladivostok and other eastern regions of Russia. This highlights an aspect of Pakistan-Russia relations that has so far received relatively little attention. While defiance, energy, trade and politics are frequently discussed in the context of bilateral relations, tourism and people-to-people contacts remain well below their actual potential. 

Educational cooperation is another area where the ambassador highlighted an important fact. According to him, seven Pakistani students are currently studying at Far Eastern Federal University, and he hopes their number will increase in the future. He also met Pakistani students during his visit. This engagement is important because if Pakistan and Russia want to take their relationship beyond official government-level contacts, stronger links between universities, students and younger generations will be essential.

There are also interesting opportunities for expanding trade between Pakistan and Russia’s Far East. According to the ambassador, Pakistani potatoes, pink salt, rice, kinnow and other Pakistani agricultural and food products are viewed positively in Kamchatka. On the other hand, Pakistan imported approximately 10,000 tonnes of soybeans from Vladivostok last year. This suggests that there is considerable practical scope for expanding food and agricultural trade between the two sides.

Faisal Niaz Tirmizi also emphasised the need to expand cooperation beyond food and traditional trade into tourism, education, artificial intelligence and music. He described the natural beauty of Russia’s Far East as a potential opportunity for Pakistan’s film industry, noting that the region offers exceptional possibilities for shooting documentaries and feature films.  

His view that Russia’s Far East could serve as a bridge between Pakistan and Russia is particularly significant. For a long time, Pakistan-Russia relations largely revolved around Moscow-centered diplomacy. In this context, the Pakistani ambassador’s visit to Vladivostok and Kamchatka, thousands of kilometers away from Moscow, and his direct engagement with business communities, universities, students, the agricultural sector and the media reflect a more active and dynamic diplomatic approach.

Diplomatic meetings in capitals are important in their own right, but understanding the true economic, educational and regional potential of a large country also requires reaching out to its different regions. In this regard, Ambassador Faisal Niaz Tirmizi’s outreach to Russia’s Far East and his participation in the Eastern Economic Forum represent a valuable and timely initiative. It expands Pakistan’s diplomatic presence beyond Moscow and establishes direct engagement with a region that is itself becoming increasingly important in Moscow’s Asia-Pacific strategy. 

From Pakistan’s perspective, I believe the importance of the Eastern Economic Forum should not be viewed merely as that of a Russian regional economic event. Vladivostok is an important gateway for Russia towards the Pacific, while the Eastern Economic Forum provides a platform where Russia’s eastern economic strategy is taking practical shape through engagement with China, ASEAN, India and other Asia-Pacific economies.

In my analysis, Pakistan has long viewed its relationship with Russia primarily through the lens of Moscow, St Petersburg and traditional diplomatic, political and defense ties. However, Russia’s geography and economic potential are much broader. For this reason, the Pakistani ambassador’s outreach to the Russian Far East should not be seen merely as a protocol visit; rather, it represents a positive step towards understanding this broader geographical and economic reality.

In my view, the Eastern Economic Forum could become a platform through which Pakistan expands its relations with Russia beyond energy and traditional trade into ports, logistics, agricultural products, food, IT, artificial intelligence, minerals, tourism, education, culture and creative industries.  

Pakistan occupies an important geographical position between Central Asia, South Asia, the Arabian Sea and China. The ports of Karachi and Gwadar, its land connectivity with China and potential transport corridors with Central Asia could position Pakistan as a possible route for Russia to access South Asian and Indian Ocean markets.

In my opinion, the Pakistani ambassador’s visit should be regarded as a beginning. The next step should be for Pakistani business delegations, chambers of commerce, educational institutions, tourism companies, port authorities, IT companies and investment-related organizations to establish systematic and sustained engagement with the Eastern Economic Forum and Russia’s Far East.  

If these diplomatic contacts are translated into trade agreements, student exchanges, tourism programmers, joint film and media projects, agricultural trade and technology cooperation, Vladivostok could become the gateway to a new economic and people-to-people chapter in Pakistan-Russia relations.

The outcomes of the Eastern Economic Forum 2026 reflect this broader transformation in the global economy. The real significance lays not simply in how many countries or how many thousands of people participated in the forum, but in the nature of the long-term projects, investments, transport links and economic partnerships being developed among these countries. 

For Pakistan, therefore, the real question is no longer simply whether to participate in such forums, but how to turn that participation into tangible results. Ambassador Faisal Niaz Tirmizi’s outreach to Vladivostok and Kamchatka and his engagement with local business, educational, tourism and media circles represent a positive diplomatic beginning. If Islamabad connects this progress with a sustained economic and regional strategy, Russia’s Far East could, in the coming years, provide the foundation for a new and relatively unexplored chapter in Pakistan-Russia relations.