On the 27th of April a successfully conducted Italo-Russian Forum for interregional cooperation took place in Milan, in the Lombardy Government Palace. It was organized by the initiative of the Moscow Chamber of Commerce and Industry, together with the Consulate General of the Russian Federation in Milan and the Administrative management branch of the Lombardy region.
In the course of the conference, the current issues of bilateral cooperation in the areas of engineering, petrochemicals, production and processing of food products, health, protection of the environment, as well as the issues concerning culture, tourism and sports were discussed.
The Vice-President of the MCCI, Suren Vardanyan, had the following comments:
The MCCI has an extensive experience in organizing and conducting similar work with Italy. Primarily, through the efforts of the MCCI, in negotiating with the Italian business partners, we set up a business program for Moscow, within the auscpices of Milan, and have brought their delegations to Moscow, whose presentation of the exhibition of the EXPO Milano, in December, in the Moscow Chamber of Commerce and Industry, was managed jointly with the Russian Academy of the National Economy and Public Service of the President of the Russian Federation. The Russian business community was presented with the economic opportunities and the capacities of the Italian province of Lombardy.
This northern region was chosen as an ad hoc location: it contains a concentration of Italian enterprises that most closely interact with Russia. In addition, our assistance to the city of Bergamo opened direct flights to Moscow with the Russian low cost flights of "Victory", which significantly reduce the cost of both business as well as personal contacts between our countries.
The main purpose of the forum at the end of April was the presentation of a mutually beneficial cooperation with such a unique region as the Bashkortostan. We have done a great deal of preliminary work, related to the holding of the Conference itself and with the business contacts between the two countries. It should be noted that Bashkortostan has assembled a large and stately delegation, headed by the head of the Republic, Rustam Hamitov, that enabled to properly present to the Region of Lombardy’s entrepreneurs its opportunities
The response and the feedback that we receive on the activities undertaken have shown the usefulness of this work and the high efficiency of the MCCI in its work in international markets. Our immediate plans: the introduction and organization of representation for the Republic of Komi and Nizhny Novgorod. In the future, we expect to vigorously expand the presence of the Russian regions in Italy".
In Milan, a successfully conducted Italo-Russian Forum for interregional cooperation took place.