The ability to create, promote and implement innovations is a key factor in competitiveness. The Asia Pacific countries have attained impressive results in the past few years, including China, India, Japan, South Korea, Vietnam, Malaysia and Singapore, which is encouraging talk about the rise of a new global economic pole. Russia is both a European and an Asian country, and we are interested in strengthening our positions in the Pacific region.[32] — Dmitry Medvedev, Prime Minister of Russia, 2014