Russia sees great prospects for cooperation with France in the field of high technology and innovation
December 19, 2017, under the chairmanship of the Minister of Economic Development of the Russian Federation, Maxim Oreshkin, and the Minister of Economy and Finance of the French Republic, Bruno Le Mér, the XXIII session of the Russian-French Council on Economic, Financial, Industrial and Trade Affairs (SEIFIC) was held.
According to Maxim Oreshkin, the Council is successfully fulfilling its tasks. "We frankly discuss emerging difficulties, together we are looking for approaches to overcome them and we are finding new opportunities for the successful development of our bilateral relations," he said.
The parties discussed the current state and prospects of trade and economic relations between Russia and France, including in such important sectors as energy, aircraft construction, space, transport, construction and housing and communal services. The key topics of the meeting were joint support of small and medium-sized businesses, as well as interaction in the promotion of innovative projects and initiatives.
The head of the Russian delegation said that the trade turnover between our countries is growing for the second year in a row. In January-October 2017, it increased by more than 12% and amounted to 12.1 billion dollars. At the same time, Russian exports increased by 19.7%, imports by 7.4%.
"France, of course, is one of our most important economic partners," Maxim Oreshkin emphasized. He noted that French companies continue to work in our country, and expand their production facilities. According to the Central Bank of Russia for the first six months of 2017, the accumulated investment from France to Russia amounted to 13.9 billion dollars.
The head of the Russian delegation said that Russia sees great prospects for cooperation with France in the sphere of high technologies and innovations. "Over the past decade, a multi-level system for supporting innovations, regional, federal funds, venture investors, business have been created. One of the priorities of our ministry is to support Russian start-ups and innovative projects to enter the world market, "he added. According to him, France also is actively working to promote high technology, pursues the goal of building a digital state by 2022, actively works in such areas as artificial intelligence, digital and green technologies. Therefore, the programs that we have, including the national technology initiative, have much in common with the programs in France. "I think there are also great prospects for working together here," the Minister stressed.
The heads of delegations signed the final document of the XXIII session of the Russian-French Council on Economic, Financial, Industrial and Trade Issues. In addition, the Declaration on the intensification of bilateral cooperation in the sphere of support and promotion of the activities of small and medium-sized businesses and the Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation in the field of innovation were signed.
Declaration on the intensification of bilateral cooperation in the sphere of support and promotion of the activities of small and medium-sized businesses and the Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation in the field of innovation.
Within the framework of the declaration, the parties intend to establish information cooperation and promote the implementation of projects of SMEs in the two countries, as well as facilitate the integration of Russian and French SMEs into global value chains and the creation of new mutually beneficial chains.
The Memorandum aims to strengthen Russian-French cooperation in the field of innovation, the digital economy and the support of new high-tech enterprises for the mutual economic benefits of the two countries.
In the presence of the Minister of Economic Development of the Russian Federation Maxim Oreshkin and Minister of Economics and Finance of the French Republic Bruno Le Mera the signing took place:
1. A framework agreement between the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RFPI) and the banking group Ces de Depot to support mutually beneficial investment projects through SMEs;
2. Memorandum of Understanding between the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RFPI), the banking group Ces de Depot and the Olmix Group regarding investments in the localization of production in Russia;
3. Memorandum of Understanding between the SME Corporation, Business France and BPI France, with a view to developing an exchange of best practices and structuring financial and export support measures for SMEs;
4. Memorandum of Understanding between the Skolkovo Foundation, Business France and the Pikom Competitiveness Pole (Lille, O-de-France region);
5. Agreement on cooperation between the Foundation for the Promotion of Small Forms of Enterprises in the Scientific and Technical Sphere and BPI France to support projects in the field of 3D printing and the industry of the future;
6. "Roadmap" for the establishment of a Russian-French cable ropeway enterprise between JSC "Resorts of the North Caucasus" and the "Poma" Group;
7. Agreement of Intent between LLC "Marine Fish Port" (St. Petersburg) and "Gossen" company on the purchase of industrial electric vehicles;
8. Agreement on cooperation and interaction between LLC "RealSpecker Lab" (Kazan) and "Quantum SAS" in the joint development of software and product promotion.
Press-service
Ministry of Economic Development of Russia