Strategic Framework for Implementing the Potential of Import Substitution on the Example of Railway Engineering

Abstract

At present, Russia’s economy is dependent on import in some of its strategically important sectors. The recent economic and political developments such as the aggravation of geopolitical situation and termination of economic partnership between Russia and a number of countries and entities, and also the Government’s policy that aims to reduce import dependence determine the need to expand the interaction between domestic producers and the need to use domestic resources, materials and equipment in economic activities. Import substitution in Russia can become a driving force of its industrial growth. The paper presents different interpretations of the term “import substitution” contained in several publications of recent years; it also reveals a common approach of the authors to this problem. The article summarizes existing proposals on priority areas of import substitution such as the shift towards import-substituting production and technology in strategically important industries. Mechanical engineering is seen as a most important industry in this respect. Russia’s machine-building complex is a highly diversified industry, therefore the policy of import substitution implies that it will be implemented efficiently in various sectors of mechanical engineering on the basis of the differentiated approach, with regard to industry and sectoral specifics. The article considers a strategic framework for the implementation of the import substitution potential on the example of railway engineering. The authors reveal trends in the development of the internal market of railway engineering products; they determine the degree of import dependence for individual sectors of the industry on the basis of statistical data. The article substantiates priorities and possibilities of import substitution in different sectors, and in high-tech sectors of railway engineering. The authors point out a goal of import substitution in these sectors, the goal is to create qualitatively new types of products that provide technological parity between Russia and developed countries in the development of transport, and active influence on the development of the world market of technologies and science-intensive products. Effective implementation of import substitution policy is possible only on the basis of interaction of all the participants of technological chain, including designers of products and technologies, suppliers, and customers. The best way to organize such interaction is to form cluster associations. The article shows the role of clusters in the implementation of import substitution policy at the regional level on the example of the railway engineering cluster in the Sverdlovsk Oblast

Keywords

• dependence on import
• import substitution
• high-tech products
• production localization
• cluster associations