OREANDA-NEWS. November 2, 2011. The Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation has hosted a meeting of the Business Council for Cooperation with the Czech Republic. Chairman of the Business Council for Cooperation with the Czech Republic, Russian Railways Vice-President Oleg Toni, RF CCI Vice-President, Deputy Chairman of the Business Council for Cooperation with the Czech Republic Vladimir Strashko, Executive Secretary of the Russian-Czech Intergovernmental Commission Olga Alyoshina, representatives of the energy and tourism working groups, Chairman of the Czech Business Council for Cooperation with Russia Jan Struz and executives from a number of companies – members of the Business Council attended the meeting.

Oleg Toni opened and chaired the event. He said that the meeting of the Business Council for Cooperation with the Czech Republic was held on the eve of the seventh meeting of the Russian-Czech Intergovernmental Commission for Economic, Industrial, Scientific and Technical Cooperation.

The meeting will include a roundtable, “Modernization Projects Involving Small and Medium Business.” In the words of Oleg Toni, bilateral cooperation is developing successfully and a number of efficient projects are underway in various economic branches. Mostly, big business takes part in the projects. Small and medium business of both countries should also get involved to bolster modern high technologies and strengthen cooperation, Oleg Toni said.

Russian Executive Secretary of the Russian-Czech Intergovernmental Commission Olga Alyoshina informed the meeting participants about preparations for the upcoming session and pointed to close interaction of Russia and the Czech Republic in that work.

RF CCI Vice-President Vladimir Strashko said that the official visit of Russian President Dmitry Medvedev to the Czech Republic would include the signing of a cooperation agreement between the RF CCI and the Economic Chamber of the Czech Republic.

Vladimir Strashko also dwelt on preparations for the roundtable, “Modernization Projects Involving Small and Medium Business,” at which members of the Russian and Czech official delegations, diplomats, businessmen, bankers and representatives of business unions would take the floor. The roundtable will focus on the Russian investment policy, the drawing of foreign companies into modernization projects, the experience of Czech techno-parks, the introduction of modern energy saving technologies and innovations and so on.

 Chairman of the Czech Business Council for Cooperation with Russia Jan Struz carried on the subject; he spoke about bilateral trade and economic cooperation and noted, in particular, the interaction in energy saving technologies and tourism. He said that Czech manufacturers were ready to share their experience not only with large companies but also with small and medium enterprises in remote areas of Russia.

In the opinion of Vladimir Strashko, the introduction of Czech energy saving high technologies in Russian regions may be a weighty argument in favor of the accession of Russian companies to the Czech domestic market.

Representatives of companies – members of the Business Council for Cooperation with the Czech Republic presented their vision of Russian-Czech cooperation in energy, machine building, tourism and finance.

A number of applications of Russian business entities for the admission to the Business Council were considered.

The meeting ended with the discussion of issues of mutual interest.