The 4th Russian–British Business Forum, a major annual business event in London, brought together over 800 participants and 50 high-profile speakers representing businesses, government organizations, and development institutions from both countries. According to expert forecasts, the trade turnover between Russia and Great Britain will continue to grow through the end of 2018 to approximately $14 bln, Roscongress’ webpage reports.
“Following the sanction-related fall-off, economic relations between Russia and the UK have been developing gradually for the past two years, seeing a growth of approximately 20% per annum. Support for small and medium-sized businesses entering the markets in Russia and the UK, the stimulation of new projects in the non-energy non-commodity sectors, fostering investment and industrial projects in Russia’s regions – all of this is a part of our work with the United Kingdom,” said Minister of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation Denis Manturov.
According to the results of the first three quarters of 2018, Russia is first among all of Britain’s trade partners with respect to the growth rate of their trade turnover (the growth rate of Russian exports amounts to 34.5%). Total trade turnover between the two countries for the January to September period increased by 20.2% as a result of Russian hydrocarbon exports, as well as Russian non-energy non-commodity exports (metals, chemicals, fertilisers, turbines, seafood, etc.). The trade turnover for 2018 should amount to approximately $14 bln.
In the interest of developing cooperation in the high-tech sector, the forum included presentations of new products and solutions from Russian companies: a VR/IoT rehab platform from Motorica, Center 2M’s first machine vision solution using the IBM technology base (developed together with IBM), and the new areas of development for the Republic of Tatarstan’s Pharmopolis project.
The documents signed at RBBF included an agreement between AgroSila and Househam Sprayers Ltd regarding the supply of agricultural equipment and localized manufacturing, an agreement between the Russian Export Centre and Supply Finder regarding the promotion of Russian products and services on the international market and investor attraction, and an agreement between GetTransfer and BSI UK regarding the provision of transport services for clients in the UK. Representatives of over 70 Russian and British companies were able to hold business meetings in the special RBBF Matchmaking zone. Moreover, as part of the networking lunch, Russian high-tech startups, including startups funded by Lanit Ventures, Skolkovo, and Pulsar, had talks with representatives from Deutsche Bank, Credit Suisse, Barclay’s, LLB Investment, Citigroup, and other financial institutions.