The Federal Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation Hosted a Meeting of the Updated Business Council for Cooperation with Pakistan

24/09/2024-Moscow. The Federal Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation Hosted a Meeting of the Updated Business Council for Cooperation with Pakistan

The Federal Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation held a meeting of the updated Business Council for Cooperation with Pakistan, chaired by its chairman, Senior Vice President of GAP Resource Dmitry Antonov. In his opening remarks, he noted that the business dialogue with Pakistan is becoming increasingly meaningful, and prospects for expanding the range of mutual supplies have emerged in bilateral trade. According to Dmitry Antonov, who recently visited Pakistan, the interest of local entrepreneurs in the Russian market is growing. At the same time, he noted that mutual settlements and logistics remain the main problems in cooperation with Pakistan.

President BACP Jawad REHMAN discusses the need of increasing collaboration between Russia, Pakistan and the Brics Plus+ countries, as two emerging economies in the world, Pakistan and Russia have the potential to significantly enhance their economic cooperation and create opportunities for growth and development. The connectivity between Pakistan through Central Asin States to Russian Federation holds immense opportunities and great possibilities for growth and development which required to be untapped. Both countries possess valuable resources and capabilities that can complement each other. Pakistan, with its young and growing population, offers a vast consumer market for Russian goods and services. On the other hand, Russia’s advanced technology and expertise can help Pakistan improve its infrastructure and industrial capabilities.

The Director of the Department of External Relations of the CCI of the Russian Federation Ilya Nesterov addressed the participants with a welcoming speech, saying that in 2023-2024, more than 20 regional chambers developed cooperation in the Pakistani direction across a fairly wide geography: Moscow, St. Petersburg, Arkhangelsk, the Urals, Yakutia, Ivanovo. The Director of the Department reported that the Russian-Pakistani Business Forum will be held at the International Trade Center on October 1. “On behalf of the Chamber, we provided the relevant information support for this event,” said I. Nesterov.

The Head of the Department of the Second Asian Department of the Russian Foreign Ministry Vyacheslav Sentyurin informed about the development of bilateral Russian-Pakistani relations and the meetings that took place between the leadership of both countries.

The Director of the Department of Asian, African, and Latin American Countries of the Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade Sergey Nosov reported on the great opportunities for cooperation with Pakistan in the field of metallurgy, pharmaceuticals, mining, railway engineering, digital technologies, modernization of fertilizer production enterprises, and supplies of Russian agricultural machinery.

The Deputy Director of the Department for the Development of Bilateral Cooperation of the Russian Ministry of Economic Development Khalimat Budunova, who spoke via videoconference, in particular, informed about the activities of the Russian-Pakistani Intergovernmental Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific and Technical Cooperation and its working groups. She reported that the next session of the Commission is scheduled for the end of the year, and the Ministry expects active participation of Russian business in this event.

General Director of ANO Eurasian Agrologists, Advisor to the General Director of JSC Russian Railways Logistics Alevtina Kirillova presented the results of the implementation of the Eurasian Agroexpress project and reported that Pakistan is ready to supply fruit and vegetable products to Russia.

Deputy Director for Research at the Institute of Asian and African Studies of Moscow State University Andrey Fesyun said that in order to do business with Pakistan, we, as he put it, “know catastrophically little about each other.” In his opinion, one of the most important areas of the Business Council’s activities should be raising awareness among Russian entrepreneurs about the specifics of Pakistan, its customs, traditions and business culture, economic opportunities and needs.

Other speakers:

Director of the Center for Interdisciplinary Research at the Higher School of Economics Marat Zembatov, General Director of the Directorate of International Transport Corridors Natalia Zadonskaya, Managing Director, Head of the Middle East and North Africa Department at Sberbank International Nikolay Vukolov, President of the National Union of Beauty Industry Professionals Valery Tigrov spoke about the features and prospects of cooperation with Pakistan and made a number of proposals for its further development.