MOSCOW, Jan. 23 (Xinhua) -- Russia would establish special economic zones in the North Caucasus as a top priority, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said on Saturday.
There were five tasks that needed to be undertaken to boost the federal district's social and economic development, Putin told a conference in the regional capital of Pyatigorsk.
The district should map out a comprehensive development strategy and every region in the district should make concrete plans in accordance with the strategy, he said.
Every region should set up special economic zones and improve the environment for investment, he continued.
Other tasks included the drafting of a special investment plan, the improvement of people's quality of life and the overhauling of government agencies, he added.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev decided on Tuesday to establish the eighth Federal District of Russia in North Caucasus, with Alexander Khloponin, former governor of the Krasnoyarsk region, appointed as deputy prime minister and his special envoy to the turbulent region.
The North Caucasus Federal District includes Dagestan, Ingushetia, Kabardino-Balkarian, Karachayevo-Cherkessian, North Ossetia-Alania, Chechnya, and the Stavropol region.
The appointment of Khloponin reflected a shift in the Kremlin's tactics in tackling the economic backwardness, rampant militant violence and clan rivalry of the North Caucasus, which Medvedev regarded as vital security threats to Russia.
In May 2000, the then-President Vladimir Putin ordered the formation of seven federal districts in an effort to consolidate national unification and presidential governance over regional administrations.
