VLADIVOSTOK, Russia -- Russia's first investment summit of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum was launched in the Far-Eastern port of Vladivostok today.

The four-day summit, to feature some 50 reports by experts from Russia, Japan, China and the United States among others, had the struggling region's Governor Sergei Darkin hoping for some $200 million worth of contracts to be signed by the summit's conclusion, AFP reported.

"We think it a high honor that Russia's first APEC summit would be held in Primorye, and this choice shows that our region is considered a center of economic development for the entire Far East," Darkin said.

Billed as a showcase for business opportunities in Russia's Far East region, President Vladimir Putin offered to provide the venue for the annual conference when he attended an APEC summit in Brunei in 2000.

However, the summit's opening was fraught with disappointment as only 12 of the 21 Pacific rim nations that belong to APEC have sent delegations to the port city of Vladivostok, with neighboring China, South Korea and Japan alone in displaying any significant interest.

Hopes for hefty contracts may also be dashed as no well-known foreign companies are participating and of the 4,000 officials and businessmen expected to attend, only 1,000 delegates have signed up, mostly local bureaucrats and entrepreneurs from the Russian Far East and Siberia.

APEC groups 21 Pacific rim nations: Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, the Philippines, Russia, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, the United States and Vietnam.