MOSCOW, Dec. 5 /PRNewswire/ -- The first stage of the presentation of investment opportunities of nine regions of Russia for foreign investors and business associations - the "road show" of Russian regions - took place in Milano the 26 of November, 2014. The delegation was formed by the President of the Republic of Bashkortostan, the governor of the Tula region and the vice-governors of Ulyanovsk, Pskov, Kostroma, Vologda, Samara and Orel regions, as well as the General Director of "Regional Development Agency of the Kaluga region." CEO of the Agency for strategic initiatives (ASI) Andrei Nikitin led the delegation.
President of the Italian-Russian Chamber of Commerce Rosario Alessandrello stressed the importance of economic, political and historical links between Italy and Russia, which continue to evolve even in the face of serious political and economic crisis that emerged in the relations between Russia and the European Union: "Italian entrepreneurs face serious economic challenges as a result of sanctions imposed by the EU on Russia and Russian retaliatory sanctions in connection with the Russian-Ukrainian conflict. However, the Russian market is a priority for Italy because it is an effective sales channel in the context of the oversaturated domestic market."
"The European business is tired of sanctions, it wants to develop and consider Russia is more than just a market to sell products - it is also a manufacturing area for produce these products," - confirmed chairman of the Italian holding company General Invest Vincenzo Trani. According to him, the losses of Italy caused by mutual sanctions between Russia and the EU in 2014 reached 20-22 billion euros, and the most to lose were small and medium-sized companies, which are mainly worked with Russia.
Russian Ambassador in Italy Sergey Razov reminded that Italy is Russia's fourth largest trading partner in the world. "The regions and the business community are to play a special role now. Thanks to ASI, leaders of the promising regions participate this event,"- he stressed.
CEO of ASI Andrei Nikitin said in his address to the participants of the meeting: "This is the first ASI event in this format and our task today is to discuss specific projects in the presence of governors and vice-governors. The outcome of these meetings is to launch joint ventures on the territory of our country."
During the presentation, the leaders of the Russian regions discussed with Italian entrepreneurs the competitive advantage in their regions, investment opportunities and benefits granted to foreign companies interested in developing business in Russia.
Within the framework of the road show, more than 70 B2G meetings were held between the representatives of Italian companies and the Russian regions to discuss the possible future cooperation. Entrepreneurs and business associations represented FMCG market, oil and gas sector, metallurgy and mechanical engineering, construction and architecture.
ASI Corporate Director Svetlana Chupsheva hoped that the work in this format will continue in the next year: "We are planning to hold a meeting of heads of Russian regions with companies in France, Japan, Germany, Malaysia and Vietnam."
Source:
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