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Putin, Merkel to open the 2013 Hannover Industrial Fair

A record number of Russian firms and companies will participate in the exhibition this year

BERLIN, April 7 (Itar-Tass) - Russian President Vladimir Putin will arrive in Germany for a working visit on Sunday. He and German Chancellor Angela Merkel will take part in the opening of the 2013 Hannover Industrial Fair (Hannover Messe) that will be held in Hannover on April 8-12. The two leaders will also hold bilateral talks.

Russia will be the main partner at the Hannover show held since 1947 this year.

Vladimir Grinin, the Russian ambassador to Germany, told Itar-Tass that this year the Hannover show would be the key element of the program of cross-years of Russia and Germany that are being held under the patronage of Russian and German presidents.

A record number of Russian firms and companies will participate in the exhibition this year.

The Russian diplomat said that the Russian exposition would occupy an area of about 4,500 square meters. Exhibits from Russia will be on view in six pavilions. Russia’s main exposition will open on April 8. The senior leadership of Russia and Germany is expected to attend the ceremony.

The theme of Russia’s participation this year is “Global Industry”.

"Today, we can say that the global industry exists as a single entity which faces common challenges and problems and has common incentives,” Grinin explained.

“In conditions of unstable global markets, Russia is proposing to the world community to discuss forecasts for its development,” the ambassador went on to say.

A Russian-German business summit will be one of the highlights of the Hannover Industrial Fair this year. Its participants will “synchronize watches” in bilateral cooperation and discuss new joint projects within the framework of the Russian-German modernization partnership.

The Hannover Industrial Fair is supposed to give new impetus to bilateral trade and economic cooperation. According to the German side, the reciprocal trade turnover has amounted to 452 billion dollars over the past five years, including 104 billion dollars in 2012. German exports to Russia stood at 208 and 49 billion dollars, respectively; Russian imports from Germany stood at 244 and 55 billion dollars, respectively.

Russia was tenth among Germany’s trading partners in 2012. Germany invested 3.8 billion dollars in Russia from January to September 2012. The Russian economy had accumulated 24.8 billion dollars worth of German investments by late September 2012.