On June 4, 2010, a seminar-presentation of special economic zones (SEZ) of the Russian Federation and the Republic of Buryatiya was held in New Otani hotel, Tokyo. The arranger of the event was METROPOL, assisted by Japanese economic associations JETRO and RONIS. The director of the department for special economic zones and project financing of the Russian Ministry of Economic Development and Trade, Dmitry Levchenkov, and the CEO of Special Economic Zones LLC  Igor Kosov made a joint presentation of special economic zones to Japanese investors. Presentations of specific and investment projects in SEZ were given by Mikhail Slipenchuk, CEO of IFC METROPOL (project for the creation of a resort complex in the Baikal Harbour SEZ) and T. Suzuki, CEO of Yokohama Rubber (construction project of a plant for the manufacture of car tyres in the industrial SEZ in Lipetsk Region). In the second part of the seminar, devoted to the investment potential the Republic Buryatiya, Vyacheslav Nagovitsyn, the President and the Chairman of the Government of the Republic Buryatiya and Anatoly Lekhatinov, еру Deputy Chairman of the Government, gave presentations to participants on various investment projects in the republic.

The seminar was attended by approximately 150 people in total, representing some 80 Japanese companies, including leading trading companies, such as Mitsubishi Corporation, Itochu, Marubeni, Toyota Tsusho, leading manufacturers of technology and electronics, such as Hitachi, Canon, Kawasaki Heavy Industries, and also a number of financial-investment groups. The topic of special economic zones as a whole and the tourist SEZ at Baikal in particular attracted great attention from potential Japanese investors. In order to continue the dialogue, Mr. Slipenchuk and  Mr. Nagovitsyn suggested to organize a trip for representatives of the interested Japanese companies and mass-media to Buryatiya at the beginning of August, 2010.

Besides the seminar, the management of the Russian delegation led a number of bilateral meetings with representatives of state bodies of Japan and large Japanese companies.