COPENHAGEN, April 22 (Itar-Tass) – The 10th session of the Intergovernmental Russian-Danish Economic Cooperation Council, which is opening in Copenhagen on Monday, will discuss ways of the best use of the bilateral cooperation potential.
Meetings of the working groups on agriculture, transport, health, energy and energy efficiency will be held within the framework of the Copenhagen session. The side will sign a memorandum on the work results.
The jubilee session two-day session will be chaired by the Council’s co-chairs – Russian Transport Minister Maxim Sokolov and Permanent Secretary of State at the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs Claus Grube.
While in Denmark, the Russian transport minister will visit the city of Frederiksvaerk where he will visit the NLMK DanSteel plant, which is 100 percent-owned by Novolipetsk Steel (NLMK). The Minister will take part in the ceremony of putting into operation of a new rolling mill.
In addition, the Russian transport Minister will hold talks with the leadership of the Danish major company AP Moller-Maersk Group.
According to Russian Trade Representative in Denmark Tatyana Volozhinskaya, in 2012 the Russian-Danish trade turnover volume fell by 0.8 percent, as compared to 2011 and amounted to 3.9161 million US dollars. Russian exports to Denmark decreased by 1.2 percent, while Russian imports from Denmark - by 0.5 percent. Russia’s main export items are energy resources, metal semi-finished metal products and timber. Energy-efficient equipment, products of agriculture and pharmaceuticals are prevailing in the Russian imports from Denmark.
“Russian regions are expanding cooperation with Denmark for the attraction of investment and modernisation of their production facilities on the basis of the Danish innovation technology,” Tatyana Volozhinskaya said in an interview with Itar-Tass. “The traditional cooperation with the regions of the North-West Federal District remain a priority for Denmark, but in recent years it has also been intensively developing interaction with the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Area, the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), the Tomsk and Tyumen Regions.”
“Sessions of the Intergovernmental Council play a strategic role in the development of Russian-Danish trade and economic relations, determining their main directions and priorities,” the trade representative of the Russian Federation stressed. “For the export-oriented economy of Denmark it is important to expand the sales markets, and Russia, which carries out an extensive modernisation program, needs Danish technology and expertise in the field of energy efficiency and resource conservation, information and communication, and “clean” technologies, in the spheres of pharmaceuticals and healthcare.”
The Russian-Danish Intergovernmental Economic Cooperation Council was established in accordance with a bilateral agreement on the development of economic, industrial, scientific and technical co-operation of October 27, 1992.