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bl<>Russia to Help Found ‘New World Economic Order,’ Medvedev Says

une 18 (Bloomberg) -- Russia will help lead efforts to recast the global economic hierarchy as the world emerges from the financial crisis, President Dmitry Medvedev said.

“We really live at a unique time, and we should use it to build a modern, prosperous and strong Russia, a Russia that will be a co-founder of the new world economic order,” Medvedev said at the annual St. Petersburg International Economic Forum today.

Russia will use tax incentives and other free-market economic policies to turn the country into a destination for innovators from around the world, Medvedev told an audience including Citigroup Inc. Chief Executive Officer Vikram Pandit and French Economy Minister Christine Lagarde.

Medvedev, in the third year of his presidency, is promoting modernization to transform Russia from an oil-and-gas economy into a magnet for high technology. Russia’s reliance on natural resources exacerbated the steepest contraction among emerging markets last year, when the economy shrank a record 7.9 percent.

Russia is on the road to recovery after the decline, Medvedev said. Sovereign debt is “minimal,” foreign reserves are growing again and inflation is at its lowest level in 20 years, according to the president. The country boasts government debt of about 10 percent of gross domestic product.

“Flexibility and adaptability are words that have become much more popular than stability and predictability,” Medvedev said. Russia should become a “dream” for foreigners bringing ideas and capital, he said.

Regional Ties

Medvedev said he will continue to seek economic integration on a regional level with former Soviet republics such as Kazakhstan and Belarus, a development he said doesn’t conflict with Russia’s aspirations to join the World Trade Organization.

In areas where it lags behind, Russia will adopt foreign practices, such as the European Union’s technical standards, according to the president.

To contact the reporters on this story: Lyubov Pronina in St. Petersburg at [e-mail]; Lucian Kim in St. Petersburg at [e-mail]