The first inaugural meeting of the Russian-Azerbaijani Business Council was held in the Chamber of Commerce of Russia today.
The first deputy chairman of Vnesheconombank, the general director of Russian Export Center, Peter Fradkov, was unanimously elected the chairman of the Russian-Azerbaijani Business Council.
The Export Projects Support Director of the Russian Export Center Konstantin Evstyukhin and the Director of external relations and work with business councils department of the Chamber of Commerce of Russia, Alexander Kopkov, were elected the vice-chairmen of the board.
The project manager to promote Russian products abroad at the Russian export center, Dmitry Kunakov, became the Executive Director of the Russian-Azerbaijani Business Council.
The purpose of the council is to expand and develop business contacts and mutually beneficial cooperation between Russian and Azerbaijani entrepreneurs, as well as promote promotion Russian business in the markets of Azerbaijan and attract Azerbaijani investments to Russia.
A draft business plan of the Business Council for the current year includes: holding of the next meeting of the Russian-Azerbaijan Business Council (in the 3rd quarter of 2016), participation in the Russian-Azerbaijani inter-regional forum in Baku in September 2016, as well as participation in a meeting of the intergovernmental commission on economic cooperation between Russia and Azerbaijan.
The idea to establish the Business Council was announced during a visit of the Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev to Azerbaijan in April, Peter Fradkov, said, answering a question from Vestnik Kavkaza. "As they admitted at the meeting with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, it was time to implement the idea. Thus, it has received administrative support and we began active work. We asked our colleagues to inform the Azerbaijani side of the establishment of the Business Council. I will visit Azerbaijan soon. We hope that Azerbaijani-Russian business council will be formed in the republic and my counterpart will be appointed, so we can work directly in a bilateral mode," he said.
The Business Council's nearest plans include development of cooperation in the engineering industry. "We are talking about a railway car manufacturing, agricultural machinery and automobile manufacturing. I also do not exclude cooperation in the field of deliveries and processing of food products," Fradkov assured.
As the chairman of the Russian-Azerbaijani Business Council stressed, the format of economic contacts has proved itself in many countries. "It was recognized at all levels that Azerbaijan is a strategic partner of Russia. At the same time, despite good political relations, such an important element as a business partnership was not formalized. We have joint business councils with many countries, with which the level of cooperation and a potential for cooperation in the future, are much lower than with Azerbaijan. Therefore, creation of the Russian-Azerbaijani Business Council is fully justified," Peter Fradkov concluded.
