OREANDA-NEWS. December 12, 2012. The 2nd Russian-German business meeting has taken place at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Russia.

The CCI of Russia and the Foundation for Family Businesses in Germany organized the event with support of the Russian-German Chamber of Foreign Trade and the Russian Union of Machine Builders. It was held in development of the agreements reached at the first business meeting in Berlin in November 2011.

CCI of Russia President Sergey Katyrin, board member of the Foundation for Family Businesses in Germany Alfons Schneider, Russian-German Chamber of Foreign Trade Board Chairman Michael Harms, parliament deputy, CDU/CSU coalition foreign policy spokesman Philipp Missfelder, First Deputy Chairman of the Russian Federal Assembly State Duma Committee on Industries, First Deputy President of the Russian Union of Machine Builders Vladimir Gutenev, member of the Presidential Council of the Russian-German Chamber of Foreign Trade, Thost Projektmanagement GmbH General Director, North Schwarzwald CCI President Burkhard Thost and Russian and German businessmen attended the event.

Sergey Katyrin opened and chaired the meeting. He said in his greetings that in spite of the crisis in Europe Russia-Germany trade kept growing and could reach approximately USD 100 billion before the end of the year. Russian imports of high-tech machines were on the rise, and the second line of the Nord Stream gas pipeline was started up. The Russian entry into the WTO created new conditions for making joint products and promoting them on European and global markets. There is a vast potential for cooperation between small and medium companies of the two countries, the Chamber head said.

Sergey Katyrin thanked the Foundation for Family Businesses in Germany for assisting in the organization of the meeting and expressed hope that the meetings would become a tradition. He stressed the interest of Russian entrepreneurs in setting up family ventures and said that German practices would be of use.

Board member of the Foundation for Family Businesses in Germany Alfons Schneider greeted the audience on behalf of the German delegates. He said the meeting aimed to create an opportunity for new contacts between businessmen of the two countries. Speaking of German-Russian relations, Alfons Schneider said they had attained a very good level. Yet there are still some problems requiring joint solutions.

Alfons Schneider read out greetings from ex-German Federal Chancellor Gerhardt Schroeder, the patron of Russian-German business meetings. He urged the Russian business community to use more actively the services and possibilities offered by German businesses.

Michael Harms said that more than 6,000 German enterprises with the total turnover exceeding 40 billion euros were operating in Russian regions. The companies created more than 100,000 jobs. In the opinion of Michael Harms, an increase in the number of German small and medium enterprises in Russian regions, production localization, reduction of customs duties and greater stability of the Russian economy would contribute to the development of bilateral relations.

Philipp Missfelder noted that Russia was a leading and trustworthy trade partner of Germany. In the opinion of Philipp Missfelder, the Russian economy should give more attention to innovations at the current stage of its development. Germany is interested in investing in this sector.

Vladimir Gutenev said that Russian-German relations could give an example to other countries. Russia is shifting to the innovative path in its economic development. Accelerated development of domestic high technologies with due account of international practices is a priority. International cooperation in this area may become an efficient tool of modernization of industrial enterprises and a key factor in the country’s integration with the world economic space, Vladimir Gutenev noted.

In his opinion, Russian-German trade and economic relations have a significant regional component: German companies operate in 73 constituents of the Russian Federation and more than 50 interregional agreements of various kinds are being implemented. The sides are working actively in automobile and aircraft building, telecommunications, biotechnologies and many other spheres. Vladimir Gutenev believes that German experience of small and medium business in innovative projects based on production outsourcing is important for Russia.

Member of the Presidential Council of the Russian-German Chamber of Foreign Trade, Thost Projektmanagement GmbH General Director, North Schwarzwald CCI President Burkhard Thost presented the role of family businesses in the German economy. He expressed his opinion of the development of Russian-German economic relations and stressed that small and medium companies were the backbone of the German economy.

Head of the Heavy Machine Building Division of the Russian Industry and Trade Ministry’s Basic Industries Department Sergey Sosenko said that USD 25 billion worth of German investments were amassed in the Russian economy in the first half of 2012. Approximately USD 2 billion were invested by Russians in Germany in the same period. A number of domestic companies are developing innovative technologies and products, in particular, in cooperation with leading German enterprises and companies.

Herrenknecht Tunnelservice LLC General Director Vadim Danilin spoke about the company’s work in Russia. President of the Russian Association of Machine Tool Manufacturers Stankoinstrument Georgy Samodurov reported international activity of the association and promising areas of cooperation with German partners.

The second part of the meeting hosted two forums dedicated to framework business conditions in Russia and Germany.