Russian President Vladimir Putin said here Thursday that stopping the outflow of population from Russia's Far East region is now one of the country's top priorities.

"This is one of the key challenges in the country today -- namely, stopping the depopulation of regions of the Far East, including the Primorsky Territory," Putin said when meeting students in Russia's Far Eastern city of Vladivostok.

The president believed that creating an effective system of training young professionals could attract people to the region.

Putin made these remarks ahead of the 2016 Eastern Economic Forum slated for Sept. 2-3 in Vladivostok. The forum is expected to attract some 2,500 participants, including those from China, Japan, South Korea, India, Vietnam, Australia, the United States and Singapore.

The Far Eastern Federal District is among the least populated federal regions in Russia, with a population of some 3.29 million. Vladivostok is the second largest city in Russia's Far East, with a population of 592,034, according to a census in 2010.