Official says Russian economy promising

In his opening address at an economic forum in St. Petersburg, First Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov said Russia was taking steps to diversify an economy heavily dependent on oil and gas exports and further open it to investment.

He spoke amid chilly relations with the West and concerns over the fate of a gas development project controlled by Britain's BP PLC.

"Our human capital is the foundation for diversifying our economy," Ivanov told an audience of government officials and CEOs gathered for the 11th St. Petersburg Economic Forum.

The forum is one of the final high-profile opportunities for Putin to boast of Russia's oil-driven economic growth during his presidency and to dispel fears the nation is becoming an increasingly risky investment because of its growing political estrangement from Europe and the United States.

It brings together a number of corporate heavyweights, testimony to the investment potential of Russia's booming economy despite Moscow's increasingly strained diplomatic and political ties with the West.

Some $3.3 billion worth of deals are expected to be signed, including a $135 million agreement with Japan's Suzuki Motor Corp. to build a car plant outside the city.

Ivanov sought to allay fears that Russia was taking a more authoritarian path under Putin, who has been criticized for muzzling media and backtracking on democracy.

"What will Russia be like in 2020? It will be democratic, based on the rule of law, and it will respect the rights of individual," Ivanov said.

He also predicted it would control at least 10 percent of world production in nuclear energy, aviation, space industry, shipbuilding, software and nanotechnology. While Russia is creating state holding companies to oversee these sectors, they would work in close cooperation with foreign corporations, he said.