The 14th Session of the Italian-Russian Council for Economic, Industrial and Financial Cooperation opened today at the Farnesina. The meeting, addressed to the representatives of Russian institutions and corporations, is co-chaired by the Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Paolo Gentiloni, and the Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation, Arkady Dvorkovich. Organised four years after the previous session, today’s meeting represents an important opportunity to relaunch the economic partnership between the two Countries. The Council was last convened in 2012 because of the 4-year sanction imposed on Moscow following the Ukrainian crisis. “These wide-reaching criticalities have affected trade and a cooperation framework could lead to common benefits but it must be based on mutual understanding, frankness and trust,” said Mr Gentiloni.
During today’s meeting at the Farnesina, Russian investors will be illustrated “Italy’s promising economic picture, with a dynamic market that is coming out of the quagmire created by the crisis and is becoming competitive and innovative again. Growth rates are still far from reaching our target although they are becoming more convincing, also thanks to the rebound in domestic demand that adds on to the traditional push of exports,” Mr Gentiloni explained. He went on: “Our interdependence with Russia has consolidated despite the problems and there is sound groundwork for cooperating in industry, energy, food and the space sector. We must still overcome some critical points in legislation and we’re working at simplifying it. We want to create new joint projects under the logo of ‘Made in Italy’ and ‘Made with Italy’, by sharing our know-how with Russia’s promising market.”
