Balancing the Areas of Foreign Trade: the Case of the Northwestern Federal District

Abstract

The recent improvements to the national project “International Cooperation and Export” require adjustments to the international trade strategies of the Russian regions. Th e content analysis of the regional socio-economic development strategies allowed to reveal the following areas of foreign trade growth: export strategy; import substitution strategy; transport and logistics infrastructure; foreign trade infrastructure; international cooperation. The methods and guidelines for qualitative and quantitative analysis to assess the role of the listed above areas in the international trade strategies of the regions are presented. Depending on roles of the areas – on the example of the Northwestern Federal District – the international trade strategies were divided into types (balanced or imbalanced).