OREANDA-NEWS. April 22, 2010. A General Meeting of the Coordinating Committee on Economic Cooperation with the African Countries South of Sahara was held in Moscow. The Head of the Coordinating Committee, Vnesheconombank Chairman Vladimir Dmitriev, conducted the Meeting.

The General Meeting approved the Statute of the Committee, its structure and determined its action plan for the near term. The Meeting made a decision to enlarge the Management Board and establish nine sub-committees which will be responsible for coordinating efforts to promote Russian companies’ sectoral interests on the African countries’ markets.

The Committee’s main lines of activity are to:
Identify concrete opportunities for expanding and diversifying Russia-African cooperation in the business sector including joint investment projects implemented on the territory of African countries and Russia;
Establish cooperation of Russia’s business circles with executive and legislative authorities of the African countries south of Sahara, participate in preparing and implementing agreements and programs in the field of trade and economic ties;
Establish contacts and cooperate with non-governmental associations of Russia and the African countries south of Sahara taking an active part in expanding bilateral trade and economic cooperation as well as offer information services.

The meeting’s participants placed particular emphasis on discussing the current state of Russian-African economic ties and potential opportunities for expanding them. Vladimir Dmitriev stressed an important role of development institutions operating in the field of supporting industrial exports saying that Vnesheconombank is interested to operate in Africa in order to support Russian companies working there.

In attendance of the meeting was Special Presidential Representative on Ties with African Leaders, Director of the Institute of Africa of the Russian Academy of Sciences Alexei Vasiliev, representatives of both Houses of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, ministries, departments, the business community and business associations.