By Vestnik Kavkaza
Last week a business forum headlined “Dagestan: Open Business” took place in Moscow. New approaches of attraction of investments to the republic, a transparent business model, and the consolidation of business initiatives by Dagestan residents were discussed. The forum gave a start to the non-commercial partnership of “The House of Commerce – Our Dagestan” which was founded last year by the head of the republic.
The vice president of the Chamber of Commerce of Russia, Georgy Petrov, thinks that it is necessary to use the Diaspora’s potential for Dagestan to develop in the pace which correlates to its capacities: “The Diaspora’s opportunities are much wider than its current contribution to the republic. For the GRP growth would reach a demanded level, along with major industries Dagestan has necessary conditions to develop small business. Small business includes not only trade and services, but also production. Dagestan could produce various goods which would be demanded not only in the local market, but also in other regions, for example, due to internationalization of small and medium business, entering markets of neighboring countries. Dagestan borders by some countries. The foreign economic factor is always an advantage, as it confirms that produced goods are competitive.”
The Chamber of Commerce studied the concept of establishing the non-commercial partnership of “The House of Commerce – Our Dagestan” and found it to be a useful instrument. “We can see that sometimes there are nice products, but it is difficult to promote them and make them available for consumers. There are too many agents. The house of commerce will solve the problem.”
Speaking about wide-scale infrastructural projects in Dagestan, Petrov said: “The transport corridor of “North-South” has been discussed for a long time – it should direct transport flows from Bombay to Western Europe by the Caspian Sea and so on. The neighboring countries have done a lot to build a railway on the west coast of the Caspian Sea. However, a route through the Dagestan territory is shorter. It is a more effective route which would reduce time and expenditures.”
