The MCCI representatives participated in the online conference of the Moscow City Government with partners from France: "Digital Cities - a New Reality. Experience of Moscow and France".
"Today, the expression 'digital city' has become customary all over the world," Mr. Mikhail Makarov, Russia's Trade Representative in France, noted when opening the conference. According to him, in most international ratings, Moscow ranks fifth in terms of digitalization. "Work in this direction is one of the most important tasks of Russia and France, the guarantee for technological independence in the future," he reminded.
"Digitalization is an important aspect of cooperation between our countries.Today's conference will help to further develop the dialogue between them," these were the words of Ms. Hélène Buriev, the Head of the Department for the Promotion of Trade and Economic Cooperation of the Embassy of the French Republic in Russia, who greeted the participants.
According to the Deputy Head of the Department for External Economic and International Relations of Moscow, Mr. Oleg Shutenko, France ranks in the top ten major trade and economic partners of Russia. He reminded that Moscow was nominated to host the EXPO 2030, which also indicates the accumulation of rich experience, including matters of digitalization. The Russian Capital today is one of the largest megacities of the world, and digitalization makes it possible to streamline all of its services, the access to which has increased 2.5 times during the pandemic.
Today, more than 380 services are available to Muscovites on the mayor's portal, said the speaker, through which the citizens can not only get the required services, but also influence the life of the capital. He spoke about the portals "Our City" and "Active Citizen", the service "Moscow Electronic School", the Unified Medical Informational Analytical System. According to the speaker, 200,000 cameras, equipped with facial recognition system, which cover 90% of the area of the capital, help solve security problems in the city. Moscow’s system of facial recognition is in demand in many countries. Then he told about the creation of intelligent transportation system, thanks to which the number of accidents on the roads of the capital decreased by 20%. The speaker also informed about the enhancement of Moscow’s status in international ratings in the last 10 years (in 2019 the capital took the first place in the International rating of public transportation) and support provided by the city to innovative enterprises.
Mr. Dominique Roland, the Director of the Center for Digital Arts in Angen-les-Bains, dedicated his presentation to the digitalization of art. "New ecosystems are factories of human resources, foundations of partnerships; they support small and medium businesses," he said and spoke about the ecosystem on which the Art Center he heads is based and its cooperation with Russian cities.
"Despite the difficult 2020 year, we and our French colleagues timely and effectively cooperated and were able to organise some very interesting online events, which were dedicated to the 'smart' city," the Vice President of the MCCI, Mr. Suren Vardanyan reminded the conference participants. According to him, the French sector is represented in Russia mainly by high-tech industries. "There exists a great potential for cooperation between our companies and promotion not only in our markets. but also in the markets of other countries," he noted.
Moscow provides systematic support for the business community, the state authorities are constantly consulting the capital's business on the topics of support concerning subsidies, non-financial support, assistance in tax issues, interest rate compensation, et al There is a Council of Entrepreneurs at the Business Protection Headquarters, which represents the interests of various business communities from large industrial companies to individual entrepreneurs. Then Mr. Vardanyan spoke about the support of the capital of Moscow companies-exporters and their system promotion to foreign markets, as well as assistance for foreign companies entering the Russian market (the process, in which the Moscow Chamber of Commerce and Industry and foreign Chambers of Commerce take an active part).
He particularly highlighted offset contracts, expressing the hope that they may be of interest to French companies. The Russian capital is working closely with French partners in the field of pharmaceuticals, as well as ecology. "All advanced pilot projects are worked out in Moscow, which will be further disseminated in various modifications all over Russia,” - said the speaker. He described several , formed on the basis of the MCCI to help entrepreneurs: adherence to compliance, the digital platform the "Business Market" and "Documents in order,” recalled the activities of the Union of the Chambers of the largest metropolitan areas of the world, created on the initiative of the MCCI and the Paris Chamber of Commerce.
"Together with our French colleagues we are solving the issues of business positioning in the system of city development, in solving urban social issues, infrastructure development of a city. I am sure that our cooperation will only expand," concluded Mr.Vardanyan.
The Commercial Director of the “CIFAL Group”, Mr. Remi Bertonot, introduced his company to the conference participants. The ”CIFAL Group” is the largest French company, involved with international trade and services, working in Russia, the countries of Central Asia and the Caspian Region. The speaker talked about its Moscow partners and joint projects, including the area of smart cities. "We cooperate for achieving sustainable development," Mr. Gerard Wolf, the Chairman of the Task Force on Sustainable Cities of the “MEDEF International” said that the company operates on five continents, including developing cooperation with businesses in Moscow. Its goal is to create "long-term" cities, where the quality of services, the environment and social development is particularly important. The speaker paid special attention to the experience of combating harmful emissions.
The second part of the conference was devoted to the support of foreign companies entering the Moscow market.
The Acting General Director of the Autonomous Non-Commercial Organization “Moscow Export Center”, Mr. Vitaly Stepanov, spoke about the financial and non-financial support of enterprises. According to him, the volume of total exports is growing - now it exceeds $3 billion, and the export of finished products of Moscow manufacturers to the French market has tripled. He spoke about the export catalog, which includes the enterprises of 12 branches, noted that the “MEC” helps companies in search of foreign partners, described cases of sales in the French market and told about support for companies in the e-commerce market.
The Deputy General Director of the Moscow Industry and the Entrepreneurship Support Fund, Mr. Evgeny Myagkov, spoke about measures of financial support for companies -, preferential targeted loans of 2- 6% annual interest rates in particular and other benefits for industrial enterprises.
Mr. Stanislav Ivanov, the Acting General Director of the State Budgetary Institution "Small Business of Moscow spoke about the city's support measures for small businesses "through the prism of the idea of our internet resource MBM.MOS.RU.” He detailed its two most popular sections - "Training" and an "Online Service.” According to the speaker, every year, there are more than 1000 different educational events held for businessmen (he described the most popular and demanded ones). Also, more than 20 online products and services have been developed, among which there is a service on due diligence and customers’ dependability, as well as services, helping to identify supporting measures for a particular manufacturer. Then the speaker elaborated on this year's special projects : self-employment.
According to the speaker, more than 1000 different educational events for businessmen are conducted - he named the most popular and in-demand ones. Also, more than 20 online products and services have been developed, among which there is a customer due diligence service, as well as services helping to identify support measures for a particular manufacturer. Then the speaker elaborated on this year's special projects - on self-employment, on opening a franchise, etc.
Mr.Evgeny Stradze, the Advisor for the Honorary Consul General of the Russian Federation in Lyon and Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, told about the investment potential of this region, which, as he put it, “successfully competes with Paris,” - about what sectors the investments are directed to and how they are distributed across the region; what countries are among the most active investors.
Mr.Tadzio Schilling, The CEO of the “Association of European Businesses”, spoke about the directions ,in which European investors are working in the Moscow market (reducing harmful emissions into the atmosphere ,solving transportation problems, participating in the development of technology parks, digitalization of jobs, etc.). "Russian enterprises are developing at a rapid pace. Moscow is at the head of many global processes, many solutions are tested here for the first time...it is a model for the rest of the country," he said.
The third part of the conference was relegated to the theme of startups.
The President of “La French Tech Moscow”, Ms. Herial Châtelard, dedicated her speech to the French-Russian startup ecosystem. FT Moscow, founded in 2016, is part of the La French Tech community and was created to attract talent and investment to the French tech ecosystem and increase the visibility of French high-tech companies in Russia. "Our goal is to organize partnerships," the speaker noted. She told about past events and plans for 2022.
The General Director of the State Budgetary Institution "Moscow Innovation Agency”, Mr. Alexei Parabuchev, told about Moscow’s innovation system and its interaction with the French ecosystem. According to him, 3,900 start-ups are currently operating in the Russian capital, with about 7 thousand high-tech companies working in the city. Their main specializations are manufacturing, education, business software, transportation logistics and real estate management. For the last year, said the speaker, there was a jump in the amount of provided venture capital. The Capital’s companies invested $1,2 billion, a third of this amount is the investment of foreign venture capital funds and “business angels”.
"The Moscow Government is doing much to support innovations," noted the speaker. He told about business accelerators and competitions, technopark arrangements, information service of Innovation Agency - “Venture Guide” and listed its advantages. In conclusion, the speaker dwelled on the plans for work with French colleagues in 2022.
The Deputy Head of the Development Department of the Franco-Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Ms.Svetlana Galchenko, told about the the main areas of Franco-Russian cooperation, formats of company support in new markets, focusing on the Digitization Committee and its objectives. She also introduced the audience to the organization of industry business missions to France, the regions of Russia and the CIS countries.
Mr. Emmanuel Fossillon, the Attaché for Audiovisual Cooperation in Russia of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, spoke about successes in this field. "France is very interested in the Russian culture; we would like to combine our efforts to study the heritage of our countries and develop our projects at the international level," he said.
The speaker also introduced the audience to past events "involving the “immersive reality" in Samara, Yekaterinburg, Yakutsk, online projects, and the creation of the "Mars" Virtual Reality Center. According to him, all of the conducted events introduced the public to contemporary art and welcomed not only Russian, but also European artists. At the end of his speech, the speaker told about his plans for the year 2022.
The President of the French-Russian Club, “The New Horizons”, Ms. Irina Parisot spoke about the activities of the Club, established two years ago, developing projects it creates from providing security tot he application of digital technologies. "We built a core of experts, who know the realities of the Russian market, we cooperate with the Russian regions - now we have partnerships with 18 of them, created a separate platform "Focus on the regions. Moscow is a privileged partner for us," the speaker explained and also shared her plans for 2022.
At the end of the conference, its moderator, Ms. Tatiana Kukhareva, thanked the participants. "I want to believe that the relations between Moscow and France will develop and bear fruit,” - she wished.
The event was held with the support of the Moscow Government and the Department of Economic Policy and Development of Moscow