MOSCOW, June 1. /TASS/. Economic issues should be in the focus of the Russia-Africa forum and the economic agenda will dominate, Director of the Department of Africa at the Russian Foreign Ministry Anatoly Bashkin told TASS.

"Expectations [from the forum] are huge. I am very happy in the first instance that the economic agenda will prevail there," the diplomat said. "This is because we have very good political, humanitarian, military, military-technical and security relations with Africans but our trade-economic and investment ties chronically lag behind," Bashkin said.

When answering a question whether economic issues are in the focus of the forum’s agenda, Bashkin replied, "I hope so."

"We need to pay as much attention as possible exactly to this aspect of our cooperation now," the diplomat. "Economy is actually the basis of politics. We need to develop it by all the efforts, all the ways," he added.