On September 20, the Moscow Chamber of Commerce and Industry, as part of the hosted Days of Astana, held a Business Cooperation Forum for the cities of Moscow and Astana.
The forum was organized jointly by the Moscow Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Department of Foreign Economic and International Relations of Moscow, with the support of the Embassy of the Republic of Kazakhstan in the Russian Federation.
The forum was attended by the President of the MCCI, Mr. Vladimir Platonov, Minister of Moscow Government and Head of the Department for External Economic and International Relations of Moscow, Mr. Sergei Cheremin, the Head of the National Policy of the Department for Interregional Relations and Tourism of Moscow, Mr. Vladimir Chernikov, and representatives of business communities of the two countries.
In his welcoming speech, Mr. Platonov said, "Our two capitals of the Commonwealth have a long history and strong ties. The first agreement between the capitals of Russia and Kazakhstan on cooperation in trade, economy, practical scientific applications, humanitarian and cultural domains was signed in the year 2000. A lot has been done over the past years for its continuous development. And less than a year ago, in Moscow, the city's Mayor, Mr. Sergei Sobyanin and the mayor of Astana, Mr. Adilbek Dzhaksybekov, signed a new program of cooperation between the two cities for the years 2016-2018. As President of the Moscow Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the largest business association of Moscow, I must reiterate that the Moscow and Astana's Chambers of Commerce have been successfully cooperating for many years. Since 2006, our Chambers effectively collaborated with the Business Council of the Heads of the Chambers of Commerce of the CIS capitals - members of the Common Economic Space (CRS). We know that three years ago, in the Republic of Kazakhstan, a reform of the Chambers of Commerce took place. Therefore, today I am pleased to invite our colleagues from the Chamber of Astana to resume a mutually beneficial business arrangement on the new basis. I believe that the forum could be the first significant step in this direction. "
The Akim of Astana, Mr. Aset Isekeshev, also showed great interest in strengthening ties with Moscow. He noted that Astana has been developing rapidly in recent years: in July, the city's first millionth inhabitant was born, while ten years ago the city's population barely exceeded five hundred thousand people. The capital is young but is enjoying a growing economy: its gross regional product (GRP) in the last fifteen years has increased by the factor of twelve, reaching twenty-three billion U.S. "GRP per capita has exceeded twenty eight thousand dollars. And this year it continues to grow. The key objectives that we set for ourselves today - improving the quality of life for it citizens, increasing the efficiency of municipal services, the creation of favorable conditions for business development and innovation. Moscow and Astana have very similar models of economic development, so we would also like to establish active cooperation between our business communities, "- said Mr. Isekeshev.
"Moscow intends to actively participate in the Expo-2017 exhibition in Astana", - said Mr. Cheremin. "Expo-2017 will be another excellent platform for cooperation and exchange of experience. The upcoming exhibition will be held under the rubric "Energy of the Future", and I think it will be a unique opportunity for Moscow companies to present their achievements in the field of power generation and energy conservation, "- the Minister said.
During the business forum, a memorandum was signed on cooperation between the Office for Investment and Development of Astana Akimat and the Department of National Policy, Inter-regional Relations and Tourism of the city of Moscow. The sides agreed to expand international relations in the tourism sector, which will create favorable conditions for the development of tourism in the two capitals.
The main focus for participants of the Moscow and Astana's business forum centered on discussing the prospects for cooperation between the two cities in the fields of urban technologies and planning, logistics, energy and utilities. "Greater Moscow - Big Astana" project was presented, CB "Arrow" shared the experience of "My Street", the Moscow Public Works program. The participants of the forum were informed about investment appeal of Moscow and Astana, the prospects for tourism between the two cities, Moscow's successes in providing information and public services to citizens electronically.