The Russian delegation headed by the President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation Mr Sergey Katyrin arrived in India

A delegation of Russian business representatives headed by the President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation Mr Sergey Katyrin, which arrived in India, visited the Embassy of the Russian Federation on April 4, where they were received by H.E. Ambassador of Russia Mr Denis Alipov.

During the conversation, Mr Sergey Katyrin spoke about the goals of the Russian business mission in India, the parties exchanged views on the situation and prospects for the development of Russian-Indian business ties.

The meeting was attended by Trade Representative of the Russian Federation in India Mr Alexander Rybas, Director General of the World Trade Center Moscow Mr Vladimir Strashko, Director General of Expocentre JSC Mr Alexey Vyalkin, Head of the Moscow Chamber of Commerce and Industry Mr Vladimir Platonov and others.

On the same day, Mr Sergey Katyrin, President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation, opened the office of the Honorary Representative of the Chamber in Delhi.

In his welcoming speech at the opening ceremony, he stressed that the institution of representatives of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation is an important element of the infrastructure for supporting international cooperation, which has been used by the Chamber for many years.

“In response to the request of our business, to the growing interest in India from the business community of Russia, it was decided to appoint Mr Igor Piasetskii as an Honorary Representative in India. He has extensive experience working in India as an entrepreneur and has been performing his duties since February 2023", - said Mr Katyrin.

According to the President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation, the growth of the mutual interest of Russian and Indian entrepreneurs in the development of cooperation is largely facilitated by changes in the global economic situation. “Trade in goods between our countries continues to maintain a positive trend, having exceeded the record figure of $35 billion in 2022 (an increase of 2.5 times compared to 2021),” Mr Sergey Katyrin said.

According to him, today the main task is to use this historical "window of opportunity", to create all the necessary conditions for realizing the existing potential of economic relations between Russia and India, not only in the short term, but also in the long term.

Mr Katyrin expressed confidence that in the context of the current realities, trade and economic relations between our countries can reach a new qualitative level of their development, and the regions of our country play an important role in the implementation of this task. “In general, the development of business relations with Indian entrepreneurs at the interregional level is an invariable priority of the member chambers of CCI of the Russian Federation,” the head of the Chamber emphasized.

He drew attention to the fact that the leaders of the most active Russian Chambers of Commerce and Industry on the international economic track are present today as part of the Russian delegation.

According to Mr Katyrin, an important feature of our cooperation at the new stage is the high interest in developing business ties with India on the part of Russian small and medium-sized businesses. This is of particular importance. It is on this segment that the stability of bilateral trade and economic cooperation and the prospects for its diversification largely depend. Therefore, it is no coincidence that the delegation consists mainly of companies from this segment. More than 60 companies from 27 regions of Russia operating in various sectors of the economy: light, chemical, pharmaceutical, IT, engineering, automotive and innovative technologies industries. “In all these areas, we see good prerequisites for building up cooperation with Indian partners,” he stressed.

The Head of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation expressed confidence that the opening of the office of the Honorary Representative will be perceived by our partners - the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry and local business circles as a clear signal of our readiness and interest in developing mutually beneficial long-term cooperation on the entire agenda of trade and economic relations.

The inauguration ceremony of the office of the Honorary Representative of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation in India was joined by such prominent figures as the Honorable Minister of Science and Technology of Madhya Pradesh Mr Om Prakash Sakhlecha, Resident Commissioner of the Government of Uttarakhand Mr Ajay Mishra, President of the South Ural Chamber of Commerce and Industry Mr Fedor Degtyarev, First Deputy General Director of the manufacturing plant "Mekhmash" Mr Dmitry Afonichev and others.

On April 5, the central event of the visit will take place — the Russian-Indian Business Forum, organized jointly by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry.