On September 25, the Moscow Chamber of Commerce and Industry held a meeting of the MCCI leadership with the Minister of Industry of the Argentine province of Misiones, Mr. Luis Lichovski.
The Vice President of the Moscow Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Mr. Suren Vardanyan, presented the investment and economic potential of Moscow, noting that 25% of all-Russian GDP is produced in Moscow. “Moscow has increased by 2.5 times in terms of area; the authorities annually invest $3 billion in infrastructure development. IT-technologies, biotechnologies, pharmaceuticals, production of medical equipment, fine chemicals, aviation, aerospace, machine-tool construction, electronics, services are the areas in which Moscow is particularly interested in investing. Moscow has a special economic zone that focuses on both greenfield and brownfield sites, which permits the initialization of production with minimal additional expenditures. Investors receive a wide range of benefits, both tax and customs,” said Mr. Vardanyan. The Vice President presented the bilingual platform of the Moscow Chamber of Commerce and Industry - “Business Market”. At this site, the Argentine partners can present their products and services to Russian partners, and vice versa.
The Vice-President of the Moscow Chamber of Commerce and Industry stressed that Moscow has traditionally shown an interest in cooperation with the countries of Latin America, however, only Ecuador and Mexico are most active today through the CCI system. Over the past 2-3 years, there have been several visits by eminent delegations from these countries. The delegations included representatives of business circles and provincial governors; the program covered visits to both Moscow enterprises and businesses in Russian regions. The activity of the Argentine authorities and business is somewhat smaller.
The Minister of Industry, Mr. Lichovski, said that Argentina is divided into 22 provinces, and, although the province of Misiones is small, it occupies 6th place in terms of GRP. The province borders with Paraguay and Brazil, therefore interregional cooperation is actively developed. The province has created infrastructure for industrial enterprises — in the industrial park, enterprises in Poland and Italy have already been localized, which provides them with access not only to the domestic market of Argentina, but also to the markets of nearby countries. The province has large-scale reserves of wood, stevia is also grown, which successfully replaces sugar. The region has developed production of mate tea, citrus, tobacco in small quantities, rice and coffee. The influx of tourists is growing rapidly, as there are world-famous Iguaçu waterfalls in the province. The minister noted that Moscow impressed him as a dynamic and developed city, in spite of the local media’s portrayal of a completely different picture.
The parties decided to identify specific curators, who can conduct further negotiations to facilitate communication and operational interaction. One of the possible further initiatives could be the formation of an expanded business mission by Argentine entrepreneurs to the Russian capital.