PHOTOS: Moscow: “Within 6 months, Russian-Israeli Economic Cooperation Grew By 25%”

(PHOTOS IN EXTENDED ARTICLE)

Moscow last week hosted the annual business forum “Israel-Russia 2017” on the sidelines of the 14th convention of the Russia Israel inter-governmental committee for economic cooperation. The event was led by Russian Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich and Israel’s Minister of Environment Protection and Jerusalem Affairs Ze’ev Elkin. The forum was organized by the Israeli-Russian Business Council, headed by Temur Ben Yehuda (Khikhinashvili) and was supported by Israel’s Embassy in Russia.

In his speech at the forum, Minister Elkin revealed that “cooperation between the two countries in the first two quarters of the year is 25% higher than the parallel period last year. Nevertheless, there is tremendous potential and this is why there is still a lot of work ahead.” Elkin added that “there is a positive trend in the growing cooperation between the two countries.”

During the forum different avenues of cooperation between Israel and the Russian Federation were examined, including joint projects and promoting direct business cooperation between the two countries. In addition, Russian and Israeli companies presented their products in the forum and a ceremony was held to mark the signing of bilateral and other cooperation agreements. Among the companies that signed agreements is Water-Gen, a company that specializes in producing machines that extract water from the air. In addition, the Assuta hospital signed a cooperation agreement with the Russian clinic Patro with a goal of improving the quality of service provided in Israel to Russian citizens.

Israel’s Ambassador to Russia Gary Koren, MKs Yoel Razbozov and Robert Ilatov, Moscow’s Minister of Foreign Relations Sergey Cheremin and businessmen from Israel and Russia participated.

During the opening ceremony, Temur Ben Yehuda (Khikhinashvili) said: “I can safely say that the business forum brings actual results. You can see results in economic cooperation, but not only there, also in other fields, like culture, health and technology. Today one of the most important forums is being held, because we are not only conducting a dialogue, but also signing a number of important agreements between Russian and Israeli companies – including Water Gen, Assuta and others.”

The Israel-Russia Business Council was established in order to base business relations between Israeli and Russian companies and to strengthen the commercial relations between both countries.