OREANDA-NEWS. Vice-President of the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry Georgy Petrov has met with Portuguese Minister of Agriculture and Maritime Policy Assuncao Cristas.

The participants in the meeting included Director of the Department for External Relations and Cooperation with Business Councils of the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry Vladimir Padalko, President of the National Union of Food Exporters Dmitry Bulatov, advisor to the general director of the JSC “World Trade Center” Pavel Petrovsky, Portuguese Ambassador to Russia Mario Godinho de Matos and his entourage.

Trade between Russia and Portugal has been developing at fast pace, Georgy Petrov said. In 2012, as compared to 2011, bilateral trade increased by 56.7% to USD 1.1 billion. Exports increased by 1,5 times to USD 499.7 million, imports increased by 17.6% to USD 578.5 million. Over the period from January to November 2013 trade between Russia and Portugal increased by 21.6% to USD 1.2 billion, compared to the same period in 2012. Portuguese exports exceed Russian imports.

Machinery and equipment make up the bulk of Portuguese exports to Russia with the share of food and agricultural products decreasing.

Assuncao Cristas said the main purpose of her current visit to Russia is to support the Portuguese companies that are participating in the Prodexpo 2014 International Exhibition, which is under way at Expocentre.

30 Portuguese companies are taking part in the exhibition this year.

The minister said 2014 would become a successful year for the Portuguese economy as the country is gradually recovering from the financial and economic crisis and is witnessing a reduction in unemployment and a rise in export. Thanks to investments and fundamental reforms in the agro-industrial sector, the export of farming products has increased by several times. Food exports are currently exceeding the country's overall exports twofold.

Despite all this, Portugal is experiencing a food deficit and is interested in importing products like grain and fish, Assuncao Cristas said. This could attract the Russian grain producers and fish exporting companies. Mrs.Cristas made it clear that Portuguese farming products were in demand in Russia, which became clear from the growing number of contracts on food supply. If we're to achieve success, the minister said, we should tap new markets and search for new forms of cooperation.

Georgy Petrov invited the Portuguese minister to look into the possibility of developing cooperation with Russian regions, including Nizhny Novgorod, Yekaterinburg, Tyumen and other regions which boast the high level of purchasing power. To this end, Portuguese exporters should establish working contracts with the Federal Veterinary and Phytosanitary Monitoring Service in order to meet Russia's demands for the quality of imported products.

Dmitry Bulatov said that Russian food producers were interested in the Portuguese agricultural produce processing technology. Ties in the agro-industrial complex could thus become yet another area of bilateral cooperation.