On Thursday, Vladimir Putin took part in the Russia-Africa Summit in Sochi and spoke at a plenary session, presidential web page reports.
“Trade, economic and investment cooperation is an important element in Russia’s relations with African countries. Last year, Russia’s trade with Africa amounted to over $20 bln. Moreover, it doubled over the past five years,” Putin said. “Russian exports are gradually becoming diversified, and their structure is changing towards non-resource deliveries. Russian companies have worked successfully in the region for a long time, mostly in such areas as geological exploration, mineral extraction, energy, oil and gas. At the same time, steps are taken to establish cooperation in high technology. At the Russia-Africa Economic Forum, a lot of innovative ideas on the development of Russian-African trade and investment cooperation were voiced.”
“Prospects for interaction in medicine and healthcare are also good. The Republic of Guinea, for instance, has a successful research centre for epidemiology and the prevention of dangerous infectious diseases. We believe the creation of another such centre in Africa should be considered,” he noted.