KAZAN, August 19. /TASS/. Russian and Chinese businesses are concerned about a lack of logistics routes between Russia and China as well as not enough workers who understand the nuances of working with Eastern partners, Deputy Chairman of the Federation Council Committee for Economic Policy Dmitry Vorona told TASS after the business breakfast dedicated to the Sino-Russian dialogue on the sidelines of the 3rd Sprouts Business Forum.
 
"The forum is an opportunity for us to hear from the business community and understand their pain points. So far, no one has told us that legislation is getting in their way. There are two problems that are consistently mentioned: logistical difficulties and staffing issues,” the lawmaker said.
 
The year of 2022 marked Russia’s turn to the east, and with that came the need to create new logistical routes, a process that takes time, Vorona said. "We will tackle this issue over the next five years together with China and Kazakhstan. New routes have already been opened via Kazakhstan; new border crossings [have appeared], and the throughput capacity via Kazakhstan is growing by almost a factor of two," he noted.

Higher educational institutions have for several years now been training students on how to work with the East, and that is helping with staffing issues.
 
The 3rd Sprouts Business Forum dedicated to the mutually beneficial cooperation between Russia and China is being held in Kazan on August 18-19. The business program comprises about 100 activities, including 70 business sessions. The participants will discuss issues of the economy, industry, education, culture, finance, investments, transport corridors, agriculture and tourism. About ten thousand attendees are expected.
 
TASS is the general information partner of the forum and the business breakfast organizer.