On the 7th of February the Chamber of Commerce and Industry’ executives held a meeting with representatives of the Mexican Embassy in Russia in Moscow.
The Moscow CCI was represented by its President Mr. Vladimir Platonov and the Vice President Mr. Suren Vardanyan. On the Mexican side, the negotiations involved the charge d'affaires of the Embassy of Mexico in RF Mr. Joaquin Gerardo Pastrana Urangi and head of the Economic Department Mr. Juan Manuel Guzmán Medeli.
Mr. Urangi spoke about the development of economic relations between our two countries. In particular, he noted that currently there is a substantially changed structure of the turnover of goods: a few years ago Mexico was supplying Russia with mainly food, and now, up to 80 per cent of exports is made up of industrial goods, such as spare parts and components for the automotive industry. Mexico recently purchased a number of airplanes from Russia; in the Ulyanovsk region, Mexican businessmen established production of spare parts for cars. Trade turnover between Russia and Mexico is about two billion dollars, but that figure, according to Mr. Joaquin Uranga, can grow significantly. Among the regions of interest for Mexican businessmen, he mentioned Kazan, Samara and Krasnodar regions.
Mr. Platonov stated that the two countries have a long - standing experience of mutually beneficial collaboration despite the changing political situation and that there are excellent prospects for continuing cooperation in various spheres of economy and tourism. The President of the MCCI informed the Mexican guests that in the near future, the Moscow City Duma will be reviewing amendments to the jurisdiction, concerning the MCCI and, if adopted, it will substantially broaden the powers of the Moscow Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
Among promising areas for cooperation, Mr. Platonov mentioned tourism. Mr. Uranga noted that Russian tourists are very inquisitive and enjoy visiting the tourist sites that abound in Mexico. However, due to the economic crisis, fall of the ruble, elimination of direct flights, the flow of Russian tourists has been greatly reduced. Although, in recent years, the situation has been somewhat mitigated: this year it is estimated that Mexico will be visited by about 25 thousand tourists from Russia.
The meeting was conducted in a warm and friendly atmosphere: at one point, Mr. Platonov and Mr. Uranga studied together at the Patrice Lumumba Russian Peoples’s Friendship University. The participants of the meeting supported the idea of creating an MCCI commission, which will assist trade and economic relations between the two countries.