Moscow needs better image - mayor
MOSCOW. Dec 8 (Interfax) - Moscow needs a better image to draw business and investors, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said at the Moscow Urban Forum on Thursday.
"Everybody knows that Singapore is an innovative city and Moscow is not, although 30% of Russian scientists live in Moscow and I presume that they may compete with any city of the world," he said.
Moscow is believed to be a not quite comfortable city; it is not considered to be a large professional training site either, he said.
"We need to learn to present ourselves and our potential. I think this is not a trivial task. This task is strategic for drawing investors and building up the city's attractiveness," he said.
All Russian cities must develop jointly with neighboring cities and regions, Sobyanin said.
"We should not only engage in city planning, which, I think, the city authorities can do, but also plan city agglomerations and relations with other cities, which are attracted to each other but are parts of different administrative systems," he said.
An international tender will be announced soon for the best concept of the development of the Moscow agglomeration, which includes the city, the newly attached areas and the Moscow region, he said.
"We must decide on the future development of the territory, which already has 20 million residents. We must understand how to interact with dozens of towns around the Moscow region," he said.