8) Environmental impact assessments are carried out with respect to navigation.
9) The prevailing legal, tax and tariff frameworks satisfy the conditions for profitable and economical shipping.
10) The NSR satisfies economic evaluations of its appropriateness for international distribution operations.
One further condition must be added to ensure the stable development of the route:
11) Appropriate development scenarios are in place to spur growth in undeveloped areas along the NSR.
Vasco da Gama set sail from his native Portugal to open a trade route through the Indian Ocean in July 1497. After a 10-month voyage through vast, uncharted seas, da Gama opened a trade route that brought convulsive changes to the nations of Africa and Asia for over 500 years. Today, half a millennium after da Gama's voyage, we can only speculate on how the opening of the NSR will transform Russia and the other countries along this route.
