Opportunities and barriers to the development of foreign economic activity in the region

This article discusses approaches to determining the barriers and advantages of the region in the development of foreign economic activity, which are seen in institutional, geographical, economic and network aspects. A classification of approaches in determining the development of foreign economic activity in the region is proposed, which consists in considering the factors of export activity in various aspects. The classification generalizes institutional, economic-geographical, and competitive approaches. Depending on the previous development, the main factors of the region’s foreign economic activity development are economic and geographical position, competitive advantages and the degree of interregional interaction. Based on the classification, a structural methodology for determining the potential for increasing the competitiveness of the regional system in the foreign market is proposed. Increasing interregional interaction is seen as one of the tools to improve the efficiency of non-resource and non-energy exports, achieved through synergy effect.