Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has set an “ambitious goal” for Russia to become one of the world’s five largest economies in the next decade.
Speaking at the 100th conference of the International Labor Organization in Geneva, Putin said Russia would aim to increase the gross domestic product (GDP) per capita “from $19,700 to more than $35,000 per person.”
Putin said Russia must double its productivity and create new jobs in the high-technology sector in order to achieve such a goal.
He said the effects of the recent economic and financial crises were still being felt in Russia, but that he expected the country’s economy to “fully recover” to pre-crisis levels by the end of 2011.
There is widespread speculation that Putin, who already served two terms as president, might seek the presidency again in 2012.
compiled from agency reports