MOSCOW (AP) -- President Dmitry Medvedev says Russia is thinking big when it comes to nanotechnology.
Medvedev told an international nanotechnology forum Tuesday that Russia aims to be a world leader in an industry he said has vast potential. He said that the energy-rich nation needs to stop coasting on its income from oil and gas exports and diversify its economy.
Nanotechnology allows scientists to manipulate materials at the molecular level, and nanomaterials have come increasingly into use.
Medvedev cited estimates that nanotechnology could be a $2 trillion (euro1.37 trillion) to $3 trillion industry by 2015, and said Russia does not want to be left behind. He stressed that will require changes in Russia's economy, which enjoyed almost a decade of oil-fueled growth before the global meltdown prompted a recession.
As the effects of the global financial crisis recede, Medvedev said, Russia's economy "should be based on knowledge and innovation technologies, not on Russia's resource potential, however limitless that may be."
The Kremlin has set up a state corporation to oversee nanotechnology.
Medvedev said the private sector should be more savvy about pursuing nanotechnology.
