"The current level of bilateral cooperation is well below the limit. But it will take unconventional approaches and new ideas [to reach the top]," Mr Denisov said Tuesday as he was speaking at a general assembly of the Italian-Russian Chamber of Commerce. The forum marks the 40th anniversary of the Chamber's foundation.
According to him, the Russian Foreign Ministry will continue to consider proposals from the business community with as much attention and positivism as before "as our shared ultimate goal is to build partnerships, including economic ones."
The Italian-Russian Chamber of Commerce has been around since 1964. It was co-founded by Italian industrial heavyweights such as Fiat, Pirelli, and Olivetti, on the one hand, and the Trade Delegation and several export/import groups of the Soviet Union (Vneshtorgbank, Mashinoimport, and the like). A hundred Italian and ninety Russian groups are affiliated with the Chamber at present.
At today's anniversary session, the Chair of the Russian Chamber of Industry and Commerce, Yevgeni Primakov, pointed out that special importance in his organization's activity is attached to the "implementation of a joint investment project for the development of Russian small and medium-sized businesses after the Italian model." In his view, ridding the Russian economy of its "oligarchic coating" is a task possible to fulfil only if these forms of enterprise are enhanced.
The Chair of the Italian-Russian Commerce Chamber, Rosario Alessandrello, pointed out, for his part, that "Italy should increase its presence in the Russian economy, especially in the services sector."
The sides have been stepping up work toward the implementation of an idea to divide Russia into industrial districts, following the Italian model. Russian President Vladimir Putin and Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi formulated the idea in April 2002 as the two of them met for a summit meeting in Moscow and Sochi. It is about the expansion of cooperation between small and medium-sized businesses and of interregional partnerships.
One example of effective cooperation is the launch of a washing machine plant in Lipetsk, in central Russia. The Italian side invested some 40 million euros in this project. The ribbon-cutting ceremony took place this past April, and was attended by both Putin and Berlusconi.
Italy ranks second, after Germany, among Russia's major Western trade partners in terms of trade turnover. According to Russian customs statistics, bilateral trade grew by 12.7 percent in 2003, to 10.9 billion dollars. Russian exports are dominated by natural gas, oil, ferrous and non-ferrous metals, and chemicals. Imports from Italy include machinery and equipment, foods, and mass consumption goods.
