CAIRO, December 20. /TASS/. Russia plans to set up 13 more intergovernmental commissions for trade-and-economic and scientific-and-technical cooperation with African countries, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said.

"The number of intergovernmental commissions for trade-and-economic and scientific-and-technical cooperation with African countries is growing. Now, we have 19 such commissions and plan to establish 13 more in the near future. We call on African partners to take practical steps to implement relevant agreements," he said at a plenary session of the Russia-Africa Partnership Forum.

According to Lavrov, Russia is also expanding the network of its trade missions in Africa. "It is expected that the activity of our trade missions will expand onto 15 more African countries by the end of the next year. Naturally, this is not the end and this works will continue," he said.

"Amid the dynamic political contacts, additional efforts are needed to expand trade and economic cooperation, which constitutes the material basis for our relations," the top Russian diplomat noted. "Although last year saw record-breaking trade indices, certain geographical and export-import disbalance is still observed. We see a great potential in boosting trade with African countries south of the Sahara, as well as in building direct ties between Russian contractors and African suppliers. We invite partners to develop promising market sectors in Russia and Africa."

He also said that work continues to remove trade barriers and fill legislative gaps in the bilateral legal bases, including in the areas of taxation, investment protection, customs and antimonopoly regulation. "With an eye of expanding the potential of our trade and economic cooperation, we think it important to use mechanisms of the African Union and sub-regional associations. The development of relations with them is one of our unconditional priorities," Lavrov emphasized.