The 8th Session of the Spain-Russia Inter-governmental Mixed Commission on Economic and Industrial Cooperation was held in Madrid today. The meeting was jointly chaired by the Spanish Minister for Industry, Energy and Tourism, José Manuel Soria, and the Energy Minister of the Russian Federation, Alexander Novak.
The meeting was attended by senior members of both governments and executives from large Russian and Spanish companies to assess trends in economic and trade relations in recent years and analyse the possibilities of future cooperation.
Discussions took place on the possibility of future cooperation in economic affairs, industry, energy, transport, tourism and the space sector. Priority was placed on further developing bilateral economic and trade relations. In this regard, both José Manuel Soria and Alexander Novak highlighted the important role played by this Spain-Russia Cooperation Commission for the development of economic and trade relations between the two countries.
A total of five working groups have met prior to today's meeting, the chairmen of which (senior members and directors from both governments) presented their conclusions to the ministers: Trade and Investment, Transport and Infrastructure, Tourism, Energy and Cosmos. Through these specific working groups, the two countries examined the possibility of future cooperation in economic affairs, industry, energy, transport and infrastructure, tourism and the space sector.
In this regard, the Minister for Public Works, Ana Pastor, signed a partnership MoU on transport and infrastructure with the First Deputy Minister for Transport, Oleg Belozerov. Similarly, MoUs were signed between Abengoa and the Russian electricity generation company Rushydro, as well as other companies in the consumption and service sectors.
In the field of tourism, a sector that has shown itself to be highly dynamic in recent years, an agreement was reached to organise the dual year for tourism between Russia and Spain in 2016.
Spanish-Russian relations
The two ministers welcomed the positive development of bilateral economic and trade relations in recent years, underlining the need to work from a multi-sectoral and long-term perspective.
Spain believes that bilateral trade relations have progressed a great deal over the last 15 years. Exports have multiplied six-fold and over 100 Spanish companies have begun operating in Russia in recent times. The flow of Russian tourists to Spain has also increased, with 1.4 million inbound Russian tourists in 2014.
Russia welcomed the results and outlook for cooperation with Spain in various fields, including the automotive industry, energy and transport.
José Manuel Soria and Alexander Novak confirmed the important role played by the Mixed Commission and its permanent secretariat in the development of bilateral economic cooperation.
In the afternoon, the ministers officially opened the 2015 Spain-Russia Business Meeting. On behalf of Spain, this event is organised by the State Secretariat of Trade (ICEX - Invest in Spain), the Spanish Chamber of Commerce and the Spanish Confederation of Business Organisations (Spanish acronym: CEOE). On behalf of Russia, this forum is supported by the Russian Energy Agency. It is attended by the main Spanish and Russian companies with economic and trade interests in the two countries; some 200 people from the transport, energy, infrastructure, engineering, service and telecommunications sectors.
The next session of the Mixed Commission will take place in Russia on a date yet to be announced by the two countries.
No comments:
Post a Comment