OREANDA-NEWS. November 2, 2011. RF CCI President Sergey Katyrin has met with the delegation of Finnish Chambers of Commerce led by Director General of the Central Chamber of Commerce of Finland Risto Penttila at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation. Director of the RF CCI Department for Foreign Economic Cooperation Sergey Vasilyev took part in the meeting.

Sergey Katyrin opened the meeting. He welcomed the Finnish delegation and the first Moscow visit of Risto Penttila in the capacity of Director General of the Central Chamber of Commerce of Finland. Sergey Katyrin reminded the meeting participants that the RF CCI and the Central Chamber of Commerce of Finland had a long-standing cordial relationship and constructive cooperation and expressed the hope that the tradition of close relations between the two Chambers will develop under the new leadership of the Central Chamber of Commerce of Finland.

In the opinion of the Chamber Head, Finnish businessmen have been successfully working in Russia for a long time and the quality of their work is so high that they set an example for others. However, it is still possible to advance bilateral relations, he said. Chambers of Commerce of both countries can make a weighty contribution to the interaction in such areas as the active involvement of small and medium business in economic cooperation, especially in regions; the broad use of cooperation options in innovations and investments, the fuller use of the potential of Russian Chambers of Commerce and Industry, and the more intensive exchange of information about the investment and economic potential of certain regions, Sergey Katyrin concluded.

In his reply speech, Director General of the Central Chamber of Commerce of Finland Risto Penttila said that the relations between Chambers of both countries were passing through a favorable period. More than 600 Finnish companies are working in Russia, and the amassed direct investments in the Russian economy near 9 billion euros. According to Risto Penttila, cooperation between Russia and Finland is based on pragmatism. It is important to simplify customs formalities, to broaden transport routes and to develop inter-culture communication, Risto Penttila said.

Director General of the Lapland Chamber of Commerce Timo Rautajoki thanked the Russian side for the warm reception and stressed the long-standing and successful cooperation between the Lapland Chamber of Commerce, the RF CCI and Russian Territorial Chambers of Commerce and industry. He said it would be topical to develop cooperation between Territorial Chambers of Arctic countries and Russian remote areas. That would open a new page in the bilateral relations, Timo Rautajoki said.

In turn, Sergey Katyrin proposed to change the format of traditional conferences of Chambers of Commerce of Finland and the Russian northwest with inviting all the Russian territorial Chambers and companies wishing to cooperate with Finland.

Deputy Director General of the Central Chamber of Commerce of Finland Timo Vuori said that Finland was interested in investing in the Russian economy and welcomed Russian investments in Finland.

Russian Chambers of Commerce and Industry are particularly interested in the development of the innovative economy in Finland, so Russia-Finland cooperation in sectors vital for modernization has big prospects, Sergey Katyrin said.