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Lavrov: Russia, Philippines have unused potential for further cooperation

He voiced hope that the president of the Philippines will take part in the APEC summit in Vladivostok this year

MOSCOW, March 13 (Itar-Tass) —— Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is confident that Russia and the Philippines have a colossal potential for the stepping up cooperation.

While summing up results of Tuesday’s talks with his Philippine counterpart Albert Del Rosario, Lavrov told a news conference, “Mutual trade turnover was at about 1.6 billion U.S. dollars in 2011.” Moreover, he is confident that the two countries have a huge unused potential for the expansion of interaction, specifically in such spheres, as agriculture, wood-processing industry, innovations and fisheries.

“We decided to support direct contacts between the business communities of our countries,” the Russian foreign minister said.

Simultaneously, Lavrov pointed to rather low indicators of bilateral cooperation in the sphere of tourism. With this in mind, he invited Philippine tourism operators for closer interaction.

He voiced hope that the president of the Philippines will take part in the APEC summit in Vladivostok this year.

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