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Lord Mandelson Committed To Strengthening UK-Russia Trade
05/11/2009
Business Secretary Lord Mandelson said today that UK and Russian firms should seek out opportunities to expand bilateral trade, a move that will help both countries’ economies.
Lord Mandelson will meet Russian Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Alexey Kudrin at the Russia-UK Inter-Governmental Steering Committee this afternoon.
Lord Mandelson said:
"This is an important opportunity for us to expand on our strong trade relationship. Over 1,000 UK firms are already established in Russia, our 12th largest export market.
"As a keen Russophile, I'm committed to improving relations with Russia. Today's meeting will help further strengthen our commercial ties.”
On the agenda for Russia-UK Inter-Governmental Steering Committee meeting are plans to strengthen the recovery as well as efforts to boost bilateral trade and investment in areas such as financial services, energy, high technology - notably nanotechnology, and Olympic Games legacies.
Bilateral trade between the UK and Russia was £10.7 billion in 2008. Among the UK companies represented in Russia are JCB, HSBC, Rolls Royce, Monsoon, M&S and Pilkington.
Members of Deputy Prime Minister Kudrin’s delegation have been taking part in several events ahead of the meeting.
Financial services is a focus of the visit. Members of the Russian delegation attended a Business Round Table at Mansion House yesterday.
A Russian delegation also attended the 2012 Games Business Summit. In June this year, Trade, Investment and Small Business Minister Lord Davies signed a Host2Host partnership deal with Russia – hosts of the 2014 Sochi Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.
A RUSNANO delegation was among 450 delegates at the UK NanoForum and Emerging Technologies Conference, where their presence sparked considerable interest following the announcement by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev that Russia is planning to spend $10.6 billion on nanotechnology by 2015.
On Friday, Minister Kudrin will be in Scotland for the G20 Finance Ministers meeting.
Lord Mandelson said:
"Global problems require global solutions. Russia is central to the G20 process. The action we have all taken together is the most effective route to ensuring a sustained global recovery."
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