OREANDA-NEWS. An annual General meeting of the Coordinating Committee for Economic Cooperation with Sub-Saharan Africa (Afrocom) was held at State Corporation ‘Bank for Development and Foreign Economic Affairs (Vnesheconombank)’.

A welcoming address to the meeting’s participants was given by Vnesheconombank Deputy Chairman – Board Member Alexandr Ivanov. He summarized the work undertaken by the Committee in 2012 and told about top-priority lines of activity and objectives in the current year.

The results of the 5th BRICS summit held in March became a main subject of discussion. The meeting’s participants were informed about new initiatives for economic cooperation within BRICS as well as about cooperation within BRICS’ interbank mechanism.

They also discussed prospects for developing Russian-African trade and economic relations and specifics of doing business in Sub-Saharan Africa, the UN Program of African countries’ industrial development and Russian companies’ potential participation in them.

Representatives of Afrocom member organizations spoke of enhancing Afrocom’s efficiency. The meeting’s final part was devoted to addressing organizational issues.

The Coordinating Committee for Economic Cooperation with Sub-Saharan Africa (Afrocom) is a non-governmental organization designed to develop infrastructure of business ties with African countries and enhance cooperation between the state and business on the African continent. At present, the Committee is comprised of more than 120 Russian entities including ministries, agencies and companies representing big, medium-sized and small business.