OREANDA-NEWS. December 20, 2011. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev arrived in the Czech Republic on an official visit on Thursday. CCI of Russia President Sergey Katyrin was a member of the Russian delegation.

Dmitry Medvedev met with Czech President Vaclav Klaus and Russian-Czech negotiations were held in compliance with the visit program on Friday.

The negotiations highlighted ways to boost trade, economic cooperation and investments, including those in high-tech areas. The presidents dwelt upon the promotion of mutually beneficial projects in the fuel and energy sector, transport, research and development. They touched upon the further enlargement of inter-regional cooperation, in particular, as a way to upgrade the structure of bilateral trade.

Upon the end of the negotiations, the presidents witnessed the signing of several documents, which broaden the legal foundation of the Russian-Czech mutually beneficial partnership, including the agreement of the CCI of Russia and the Economic Chamber of the Czech Republic on cooperation in modernization and innovative development. CCI of Russia President Sergey Katyrin and President of the Economic Chamber of the Czech Republic Petr Kuzel signed the document.

The agreement pledges the promotion of contacts between Russian and Czech enterprises, organizations, companies and businessmen and the development and broadening of economic, cooperative, scientific and technological contacts, including the transfer of modern technologies.

 The Economic Chamber of the Czech Republic will support the access of Russian businessmen to EU markets, while the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Russia will support the access of Czech businessmen to the Russian market.

CCI of Russia President Sergey Katyrin said after the signing of the document:

“Russia views the Czech Republic as a mature and promising market, which presents plenty of hitherto unused options for interaction with Czech businessmen. The current visit of President of the Russian Federation Dmitry A. Medvedev to Prague, of whose delegation I am a member, is an illustrative example to that. A number of very important documents have been signed, among them the agreement between the CCI of Russia and the Economic Chamber of the Czech Republic.

“We have a long-standing amicable relationship. A lot of good deeds have been done, and Russia values that highly. Yet the one who stands still will inevitably fall back. The administration of the Economic Chamber of the Czech Republic and us concluded that the new time, new technologies and new opportunities give us a chance to make trade and economic cooperation more eventful and diverse. Therefore our Czech colleagues and we formulated a rather broad agenda in this agreement; we may describe it as a long-term program of assistance to the upcoming multifaceted cooperation between business communities of both states.

“The agreement accentuates our opinion of the Economic Chamber of the Czech Republic as a strategic partner in the support to and bolstering of trade and economic relations, modernization projects, innovations and mutual benefits. The CCI of Russia is ready to add practical value to this agreement and welcomes proportionate enthusiasm, goodwill and professional approach of the Czech side. I wish to recommend to Czech businessmen to glance at the entire map of Russia without focusing on such megalopolises as Moscow, and to seek areas of cooperation and suggest their ideas and projects to Russian regions. The CCI of Russia will be your assistant in that.”

On December 7 CCI of Russia President Sergey Katyrin attended the award ceremony for the best small and medium companies of the Czech Republic in 2011. In the main event of small and medium companies held at the Zofin Palace in the center of Prague, the CCI of Russia Head and the President of the Economic Chamber of the Czech Republic presented an honorable diploma to the AVAST Company – a developer of anti-virus software. The majority of Czech companies use products and services of this company, which has 40,000 clients in Russia.

The working meeting with President of the Economic Chamber of the Czech Republic Petr Kuzel discussed the practical content of the bilateral agreement on cooperation in modernization and innovative development. Pertaining to certain Czech proposals, especially those made in the light of the Russian accession to the WTO, Sergey Katyrin gave directives to CCI of Russia Regional Representative Vladimir Mikoyan to consider their implementation. Apart from that, the sides agreed to intensify contacts between Arbitration Courts. In general, the sides affirmed the mutual positive inclination to the start of joint energetic work in the near future and the similarity of their views of the intensification and fostering of cooperation between businessmen of both countries.

In the end of his visit to Prague, the President of the CCI of Russia visited the Proton Therapy Center and met with Business Cooperation Center Head A. Akulinin.