11
Russia - France
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I am delighted to have been given the opportunity to address the readers
of
‘ Cahiers d'Échanges Internationaux ’.
The Embassy of Russia in France places great importance on developing
the potential of trade, economic, financial and industrial cooperation
between our two countries. The success of this work is largely due to the
strengthening and developing of existing and future direct links between
Russian and French economic operators at different levels.
I am not only speaking about cooperation between giants of industry
that are known all over the world, such as Gazprom, Novatek, Rosatom,
RZD, Total, Engie, Schneider Electric, Sanofi, Air Liquide and many
others, but also between SMEs or even very small businesses.
We are delighted to see the gradual return of bilateral trade to its previous levels. In 2017, it rose by 16.5 %
compared to 2016 and reached 15.5 billion dollars, and in January to August 2018 growth was 20.1 %
compared to the same period of the previous year (9 billion dollars in eight months).
We are grateful to French business leaders for not losing trust in Russia, not leaving this market and even
increasing their presence there (in 2017, the volume of French direct investments in Russia exceeded
15 billion dollars) and setting up new industrial sites. At the same time, we hope that the strengthening of
economic ties and bilateral trade will enable Russian companies to invest more in France (Russian direct
investments in France reached 3 billion dollars in 2017).
I am certain that the now-regular meetings between Vladimir Putin, the President of the Russian
Federation and Emmanuel Macron, the President of France, will give considerable impetus to intensifying
not only political, cultural, scientific, academic and parliamentary exchanges but also contacts between
the business leaders of our two countries. Therefore, we greatly appreciated the participation of President
Macron, accompanied by a large delegation of French business leaders, in the Saint Petersburg
International Economic Forum in May this year.
I am convinced that Russo-French cooperation is bound to succeed. Our experience of history, including
the brotherhood of arms during the First and Second World Wars, is a witness to this. Our countries and
our peoples have much in common and it is our duty to protect and foster this heritage, despite all the
sanctions, all the external pressure and all the attempts by certain parties to impose their own rules of the
game on us on the international stage, including about trade and finance.
I would like to send my very best wishes of success, prosperity, peace and happiness to all the readers
of
‘ Cahiers d'Échanges Internationaux ’
.
S.E. Alexey MESHKOV,
Ambassador of the Russian Federation in France
©DR
'I am convinced that Russo-French
cooperation is bound to succeed'
