The IX internet-conference of the chairman of the State Duma of Tomsk Oblast

The IX Internet-conference of the chairman of the State Duma of Tomsk Oblast B. Maltsev was held on November 19, 2007, titled as Green Light for the Youth?

During ten days Internet users could ask their questions on the official website of the State Duma of Tomsk Oblast, and also send questions by sms. The Internet-conference was peculiar for direct broadcast on-line.

Boris Maltsev answered not only virtual questions of users, but also real questions of students, participants of the contest of students’ works on public relations Crystal orangepresent in the conference hall.

Most discussed questions concerned accommodation for the youth, students’ employment, scholarship increase, student sport, youth participation in the political life of the Oblast. Most students of specialties “Public relations” and “Advertisement” of Tomsk State University were concerned with the problems of migrants’ adaptation in the adopted society.

Within thirty minutes of communication the speaker answered almost 40 questions. All in all, about 200 questions were received from the participants of the Internet-conference.

Quotations Welcoming words of B. Maltsev:“In the region, where the quarter of the population is youth, where there are 100 thousand of students, the youth subject-matter is very actual. Youth is our future, which we want to improve.

Though to achieve this goal we shouldn’t only dream about it, we should work in this trend: government and society should work and the youth as well. Our task is to help young people to realize themselves, to become self-confident, determined and ambitious.

Work with young people was always one of the priorities of the State Duma of Tomsk Oblast…. Nevertheless, we have a lot challenges in this field. And Parliament hearings we held in the Duma in June last year obviously showed it, as well as questions received at the Internet-conference.

I would like that this internet-conference not only raised the problems of the field of state youth policy on the territory of our region, but also encouraged executive and legislative power to more active actions”.

- What are the perspectives of international collaboration of Tomsk Oblast and is there a perspective of development of any other kinds of industry except for the petroleum one?

B. Maltsev: “By the way, in international collaboration the leader is not a petroleum industry. Tomsk Oblast trades with 100 states of the world.

The better product for sale is, the more international collaboration is developed. Our dream is to sell the intellectual product, which is abundant in Tomsk Oblast…

One of the elements which can solve this problem is Tomsk technical innovation special economic zone, which is under construction at present. It is supposed to have 12 thousand working places for the first time, in perspective this amount of places will be increased up to 50 thousand.

So far, several foreign companies have claimed about their readiness to buy our product we are going to produce there. In order to have close relations in the world association, it is necessary to put out competitive product, which the whole world will buy...”

- Boris Alekseevich, we’d like to know your opinion about immigrants. Is it essential to toughen the laws about entrance and naturalization of immigrants?

B. Maltsev: “Immigration doesn’t represent any great challenges for Tomsk Oblast, because there are very few immigrants and they live well here. In Siberia like in the USA a lot of people came here long time ago from different parts of the country and started living here.

As for me, I came here from Moscow, but was born in Perm. At present, people of 19 different ethnic groups live here and get on with each other quite well, as all of us are immigrants to some extent…As for students, I want Tomsk to be the capital not only of Western Siberia and Far East, but also the former state republics.

In the past, almost all Russian speakers from the republics studied here. The heads of Academies of Sciences of Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tadzhikistan are graduates of Tomsk higher educational institutes.

We are to be proud of the fact, that foreign students come and study in Tomsk. We provide beneficial conditions for these students and it is profitable for us as they pay money for their education here”.

The Legislative Duma of Tomsk Oblast

The IX internet-conference of the chairman of the State Duma of Tomsk Oblast