In the Canadian city of Montréal, the Days of the economy of Moscow are being held. The delegation from the Russian capital is headed by the President of the Moscow Chamber of Commerce and Industry, a Deputy of the Moscow City Duma, Mr.Vladimir Platonov.
A series of events was opened by a meeting of the Moscow delegation, at the residence of the Consul General of the Russian Federation in Montréal, with compatriots, living and conducting their business in this city. Discussed were the prospects of opening a cultural center, as an object of attraction for compatriots-entrepreneurs, the creation of a Russian bank in Canada, the issues of conducting tourist business, and the production of medicines.
Afterwards, the Conference on trade, economic and investment cooperation between Moscow and Montréal was held in the Atrium Le 1000 business center. At the Conference, a lively discussion was conducted on the issues of the investment potential of the two cities, financial support for entrepreneurs, interested in creating Russian-Canadian projects, promoting new construction technologies, innovative systems of energy-saving technologies, and the dynamic creation and development of technopolises in Moscow and Montréal.
The Consul General of the Russian Federation, Mr. Yury Bedzhanyan, welcomed the participants. He noted that this is the third visit of Moscow’s representatives in such a short period. Recently, Canada was visited by the Minister of the Moscow City Government, Head of the Moscow City Foreign Economic and International Relations Department, Mr. Sergey Cheremin. The delegation of the transportation branch of the Moscow City Government took part in one of the largest exhibitions and won first place with its MCC project (MCC is The Moscow Central Ring, which is a joint project of the Moscow Metropolitan State Unitary Enterprise, JSC Russian Railways and JSC MKZhD). Meanwhile, the current delegation included many representatives of the Moscow business community. The Consul General of Russia wished success to the assembled entrepreneurs in establishing further contacts.
The National Director of the Canadian Business Association in Russia and Eurasia, Mr.Gilles Breton, thanked his Russian guests for the visit and expressed the hope for further development of cooperation between the two cities, since Moscow is the main gateway to Russia, and the trade turnover of our two countries for the nine months of this year, compared to January- September of 2016, has increased by 14%.
The key event of the conference was a presentation by Mr. Platonov on the investment climate of the City of Moscow. The President of the MCCI spoke about such important projects for the city as the Renovation Program of the housing stock, opening of the Zaryadie Park, creation of the Skolkovo International Medical Cluster, as well as recent Moscow transportation projects. The participants of the Conference appeared to be especially interested in the way Moscow prepares for the World Cup in 2018.
During the Conference, Canadian entrepreneurs, already doing business in Moscow, also took the podium. They confirmed the information about the investment attractiveness of our city. The CEO of ROSEMEX, Mr. Sean Gallagher, for example, talked about the already implemented projects for heating and ventilation systems in the Moscow City complex, as well as other urban facilities.
On the specifics of construction business, Mr. Mark Albertin, the President of Open Air, which is working on the construction of the roof of the Aquapark in Luzhniki, made a brief presentation.
Mr. Ilia Kalnish, the patent and trademark agent of BCF LLP, spoke about the prospects for cooperation in IT and High-Tech fields. He told about the experience of working with "Yandex", and about the specifics of starting the management of documents and financial relations with Russian partners.
The President of Bioastra Technologies, Ms. Sumitra Rajagopalan, shared her story about how the experience of living and learning in Russia influenced her business. She noted that it is extremely important to promote the work of the Russian diaspora in informing Canadians of the Russian achievements in scientific and entrepreneurial endeavors.
Following the conference, the guests were presented with an opportunity to freely ask questions of Mr. Platonov. The continuation of the visit on December 19, will involve the delegation’s visit to the HEC Montréal Business School.