OREANDA-NEWS. December 18, 2007. Russia"s CCI Protects Interests of Business "that coincide with the interests of the entire Russian society," stated RF CCI president Evgeni Primakov at the meeting of members of the Praesidium of the Board of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry with President Vladimir Putin.

The meeting took place at the Kremlin on the eve of two significant events, the 90th anniversary of the establishment of territorial chambers of commerce and industry and the 75th anniversary of the incorporation of the federal Chamber. Vladimir Putin congratulated the staff of the system of chambers of commerce and industry on the occasion, stressing that"this country"s biggest association of commodity manufacturers" plays and especially significant role.

The participants showed great interest in discussing the current development problems Russia is facing, in particular, the role of the chambers of commerce and industry in ensuring competitiveness of this country"s economy and in shaping efficient market environment. In the opinion of head of the state, chambers of commerce and industry "should disseminate and put into practice the most promising models of corporate management, which, on the one hand would ensure high profitability of individual organisations, and on the other, enable them to use resources in such a way that they would attain the highest degree of ethnological, and not less importantly, social returns." The president drew special attention to the expediency of using the CCI system for economic cooperation, first and foremost, with the CIS member-states. The participants of the meeting expressed their positive view of the president"s proposal to organise at the RF CCI expert evaluation of purchases made with an eye to meeting requirements of the subjects of the Russian Federation, with the hands-on involvement in this of the regional CCIs.

In his speech RF CCI president Evgeni Primakov said that Russia"s business community supports and protects the economic course this country is currently following. However, in his opinion, there are real dangers to the pursuance of this course. "We feel two dangers. I mean the Young Liberals coalescing with the oligarchs who would like to make a U-turn towards the 1990s. The second danger is coalescence of a part of the state apparatus with business in their wish to build, as it were, the administrative-market society,"- Evgeni Primakov stressed.

One of the fundamental features of the course followed by this country is its targeting at the rapid growth of the gross domestic product, noted RF CCI president. But "the government"s economic bloc shares the traditional view that a transfer to the innovation tracks would send the GDP growth rates down. This is a wrong mind-set. GDP should grow along with a transfer to the innovative course."

The participants of the meeting at the Kremlin noted that the state has made a turn to face the manufacturing sector of Russia"s economy. And according to Vladimir Putin, the state-owned holdings that are being established at present should operate very efficiently. Otherwise "there would be more and more supporters of the view that the state is taking upon itself much too much. And this is not so." The theme of national projects was given particular attention at the meeting.

It was stressed at the meeting at the Kremlin that in present-day conditions the system of chambers of commerce and industry is capable of raising the competitiveness of the Russian economy.