Within the framework of the Days of Genoa and Liguria, which took place in Moscow on May 22 - 23, a Forum for Russian-Italian business cooperation was held on the site of the Moscow Chamber of Commerce and Industry, attended by Mr. Sergey Cheryomin, the Head of the Department of Foreign Economic and International Relations of Moscow, Minister-Counsellor of the Italian Embassy and Deputy Head of the Mission in Russia, Michele Tommasi, Mayor of Genoa, Mr. Marco Bucci, President of Confindustria of Genoa, Mr. Giovanni Mondini, representatives of Italian and Russian business.
Mr. Cheryomin noted that the cooperation of Russian and Italian entrepreneurs has a long and strong tradition. He conveyed words of gratitude from Moscow’s Mayor, Mr. Sergei Sobyanin, to all Italian entrepreneurs for their commitment to cooperation with Russia, despite all the political difficulties. The Head of the DVMS noted that now there is are positive dynamics in the foreign trade activity between Russia and Italy: "If in 2016, there was a decline in foreign trade, last year the trade with Italian partners grew by more than 50 percent for Moscow’s residents", said the Head of DVMS . He cited examples of successful cooperation between Russian and Italian entrepreneurs. There is the "Delimobile", which is a start-up of an entrepreneur from Milan, the program of cooperation of the oldest Moscow company "Metrogiprotrans" with the metro of Milan, participation of Italian companies in the program of public-private partnership in the construction of the stadiums "Dynamo" and "Spartak." "I am sure that during the visit you will be convinced that Moscow is a dynamically changing city, with a comfortable setting for conducting business", Mr. Cheremin said.
Mr. Marco Bucci gave a detailed account of Genoa, noting its unique location, convenient for both tourism and entrepreneurship. A special place in the economy of the city is reserved for the port. As the Mayor of Genoa noted, during the transportation of goods from Asia, including from China, unloading in the port of Genoa allows to shorten the time of delivery of goods to Europe by 5 days. Two new tunnels have already been built through the Alps, which significantly improved logistics.
Genoa is a tourist city. In recent years, the number of tourists has been increasing by 8-10 percent annually. This is not random, since in Genoa one can visit 42 sites, protected by UNESCO. For example: there is a yacht club, EuroFlora exhibition, a violin competition named after Niccolò Paganini.
But in Genoa there are not only natural and historical sights. It is also a developed industrial city, in which great attention is paid to the development of science, high technologies, and innovations. Only in the techno-park, occupying an area of more than 400 thousand square meters, more than 15 thousand people are engaged in such industries as robotics, nanotechnology, pharmacology, development of technologies for the use of graphene, etc. "Genoa should become an ideal city for business", said Mr. Bucci, “ and the cities of Europe should learn about it. "
The conference was attended by representatives of major Italian companies, engaged in the production of equipment for power plants, gas turbine equipment, introduction of innovative products, including composite materials, etc. Among them are Mr. Danilo Moresco (ABB); Mr. Giuseppe Dzampini (Ansaldo Energy Company); Mr. Francesco Bonaccorso (BiDimenschinal Company); Mr. Enrico Botte (group "FOS"); Mr. Vincenzo Manni (RINA Services); Mr. Edoardo Garibotti (TMP Termomeccanica Pompe Company).
Mr. Andrei Valui, the Deputy Head of the City Planning Department of the City of Moscow, told the Italian guests about the implementation of the renovation program for the city’s dilapidated housing stock and expressed confidence that by localizing their production in Moscow, Italian entrepreneurs will be able to take part in tenders for the supply of finishing and construction materials, as well as the development of project documentation.
Ms. Tatyana Redko, the Deputy General Director of the company "Renault Russia", noted that due to the changing attitude towards transport in the society and the emergence of new modes for car use, it is necessary to change the priorities of business development as well. She spoke about the joint project of the companies "RENAULT" and "Delimobil" - "Electrocarsharing" in Sochi. Tourists will not only be able to use the car, powered by electricity, but to also listen to descriptions of a guide, "sewn up" in the programmed software of the vehicle.
Mr. Vitaly Stepanov, the Head of the Department for Support of Industrial Development Projects of the State Enterprise "Industrial Development Agency of the City of Moscow", presenting the industrial potential of the capital, noted that, because of the industrial policy being implemented by the city, it is very profitable to conduct business here: producing goods in Moscow can save from 10 to 50 percent of assets, and shorten the payback period from 1-3 years.
At the end of the plenary session, B2B negotiations took place. They were very successful, because, as noted by the Chairman of the Commission of the International Chamber of Commerce for Foreign Economic Cooperation with Italy, Mr. Konstantin Krokhin, the Chamber took into account the wishes of the Italian executives and tried to select potential partners for them and invite them to the Forum.