ISLAMABAD, MAY 11 (DNA) – Alexey Dedov Ambassador of the Russian Federation has said Russian Pakistan relations are heading in the right direction adding mutual cooperation between the two countries will further improve in the coming days.
The Russian ambassador was speaking on the occasion of a reception held to celebrate the National Day of Russia.
The ambassador said, interaction between the regions of Russia and Pakistan has also gained momentum in 2015-2017.
A visit of the delegation of the Trade Development Authority of Pakistan to Moscow and Saint Petersburg in September 2015 discovered new exciting opportunities for business links with Russian counterparts.
A follow-up trip of a group of Pakistani businessmen to Tatarstan and Bashkortostan, two industrially developed regions of Russia, in 2016 promises to open new vistas for bilateral trade cooperation between the regions of our countries.
Inter-regional cooperation was facilitated by the visit of the President of the Republic of Tatarstan R.N.Minnikhanov to Lahore and Islamabad (March 17-19, 2017).
His Lahore visit was marked by the 1st Tatarstan-Punjab Business-Forum, during which the following important documents were signed: Agreement on Cooperation between the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Chamber of Commerce of the Republic of Tatarstan, as well as Memorandum of Understanding between the State Autonomous Institution IT Park, Kazan and the Center of Entrepreneurship.

The ambassador said, interaction on the level of the Russian and Pakistani regions was enhanced by the Agreement between the Government of Saint-Petersburg and the Government of Sind on Cooperation in the Trade, Economic, Scientific, Technical and Cultural Fields signed on October 23, 2017.

The Saint-Petersburg – Sind Business Forum was also held on the basis of the Saint-Petersburg Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
The trade between Russia and Pakistan started developing rapidly – its volume has grown by 33.6% and reached USD 541 million in 2017 mainly due to increase of the Russian export to Pakistan by 96.3% (USD 261 million). Pakistani export to Russia has grown by 2.9% – USD 280 million.
Our economic relations are facing huge challenges. Definitely, a trade amount of USD 541 million does not correspond to potential of cooperation between Russia and Pakistan.
Various objective factors have been affecting our links, including geographical distance and existing financial counterclaims between our countries related to the Soviet period, he added.
The ambassador said there were a lot of promising opportunities in the economic field. “We intend to diversify trade and investment contacts, improve the legal framework of our relations. Russian business circles are ready to implement mutually beneficial projects in energy, railways, telecommunications and IT”.
Russia he siad has put forward a number of proposals to enhance cooperation in construction of offshore gas pipeline, power and refining plants, crude oil and oil products supply, geological exploration, steel industry, advanced optical and aero navigation systems, digital TV, promotion of aircrafts, railcars, trucks, medical and agriculture equipment, water and sanitation facilities, advanced IT and pharmaceutical products to the Pakistani market.
The untapped potential of our economic cooperation is huge and has yet to be fulfilled. We are sure that the combined efforts of Russia and Pakistan will result in a new impetus to development of our multi-dimensional economic interaction, he concluded.=DNA
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