The role of the World Chambers of Commerce has been discussed at a forum in the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation.
In the CCI of the Russian Federation, the forum “ Strengthening of cooperation between the WCF (World Chambers Federation) and the system of the CCI of the Russian Federation “ took place. It was conducted during the visit to Moscow from 20th till 23rd, June of the delegation of the Executive Committee of the WCF, led by its chairman, the President of the Slovakian Chamber, Peter Mihok. Participating in the forum were the President of the MCCI, Vladimir Platonov and the Vice-president, Suren Vardanyan.
The World Chambers Federation counts 12000 Chambers among its members. The WCF was organized by the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) in 1951 and serves as a special-purpose division of the International Chamber of Commerce, engaged in examining the activities of the Chambers of Commerce and Industry around the world.
The President of the MCCI, Vladimir Platonov, noted: “For us, this is a very important event, in fact, foreign reations are of great importance for the progress of Moscow in so far as attracting investments, promoting goods and services, using experience and advantages of the international division of labour. The Moscow CCI cooperates actively with the International Chamber of Commerce and is a member the WCF. We support contacts with associations of business circles of foreign countries, with which more than 110 cooperation agreements have been negotiated.
The Chamber is the co-organizer of business activities within the benchmarks of Moscow’s international visits (Milan, Delhi, Hanoi, Tokyo). To benefit the city, only in this half-year it held the Days of Moscow in Paris, Nice and Minsk, business events and В2В negotiations within the venue of the Hanover Industrial Exhibition-Fair ».
Vladimir Platonov emphasized that the sanctions, adopted two years ago concerning Russia, play a significant role in influencing foreign economic relations. “The policy of sanctions induces the participants in foreign economic activities to address the markets of the CIS countries, Asian-Pacific region, Latin America and Africa. Business circles of the western countries oppose the use of sanctions in trade and economic relations. Business is not about abandon the Russian market to appease, as it was explicitly made clear during the current St. Petersburg’s International Economic Forum, short-term political interests of the heads of certain governments. On the agenda - questions of cooperation in such areas as mechanical engineering, energy, housing, communal services, construction and transportation infrastructure. These areas are outside of the sanctions’ restrictions “.
The Vice-president of the MCCI, Suren Varanyan, noted, that cooperation with the World Chambers Federation is considered by the Moscow Chamber of Commerce and Industry to be the channel to foreign markets as well as a system for organizing contacts. « Moreover, the Federation has a wide experience of the Chambers’ development in different countries – its legislatively-regulatory activity should be taken under consideration. Moreover, the activities of the Federation allow it to highlight the work of the CCIs. “, - said Suren Vardanyan.
During the forum, the President of the Russian Federation CCI, Sergey Katyrin, presented the work of the CCI of the Russian Federation in connection with the passing of the Federa Law “ The amendment in the Law of the Russian Federation “ Regarding the commercial and industrial Chambers in the Russian Federation””; the Director of secretariat of the WCF (Australia), Anthony Parks, who considers closer cooperation with the CCI of the Russian Federation indispensable; The Vice-president of the WCF, the ex-President of the CCI of Uruguay, Ambosio Bertolotti, in whose opinion this is the time for intesifying economic contacts; The Vice-president of the WCF, the President of the Association of the Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India, Mahendra Kumar Sanghi, who has emphasized the intrinsic importance of developing direct contacts between the Chambers.
In the opinion of the Vice-president of the WCF, the President of the Association of Executive Directors of the Chambers of Commerce of the USA, Michael Fleming, it is necessary for the Chambers to adopt the advanced technologies in their daily work. The Vice-president of the WCF, the consulting adviser of certification of the origin of goods of the Netherlands’ Chamber of Commerce, Martin Van-der-Vejde, briefly touched on his concern with the problems of coordinating standards of registration with the introduction of electronic certificates of the origin of the goods.
Within the forum, the exchange of views took place, with speakers, being the heads of some of the Russian regional CCIs.