Saturday, March 10, 2007 Russians, CCCI ink trade deal
CEBU’S furniture exporters can take advantage of the booming real estate industry of Russia, an official from the Eastern Dimension International Public Movement (EDIPM) said.
Vladimir Ivanovich Sukharev, EDIPM vice president, said a boom in Russia’s housing industry will redound to a huge demand for “custom-designed, high quality furniture pieces.”
“All of these are met by Cebu’s furniture manufacturers and exporters,” Sukharev told reporters in during a signing of the memorandum of understanding (MOU) between EDIPM and the Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI) last Thursday at Casino Español de Cebu.
EDIPM is a nongovernmental organization tasked with the expansion of Russia-Asean (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) dialogue to improve collaboration in commerce and investments, and in scientific, technical and cultural areas.
The MOU stipulates that the tie forged between CCCI and EDIPM will initiate and develop bilateral actions of cooperation that aims to strengthen trade and economic relations between Cebu and the Russian Federation.
In addition, it encourages businessmen in Cebu and Russia to participate in exhibitions and fairs held within their respective regions.
In a phone interview yesterday, Allan Suarez, Philippines Exporters Confederation-Cebu (Philexport Cebu) chairman, told Sun.Star Cebu that the MOU may come as an “answered prayer” since local furniture exporters are targeting Europe as its new market.
“I hope that we can maximize the business relations with Russia,” Suarez said, adding that Russia’s optimism in the local furniture industry is a “good sign” of Cebu’s competitiveness in the Russian market.
Apart from Cebu’s furniture industry, other sectors like tourism, human resource, natural resources, and agriculture are also said to benefit from the agreement.
Viktor Arkadjevich Maister, head of the Surgut Institute of World Economy and Business Planet, said that Russia, particularly in cold areas like Siberia, has opened its market for agricultural produce coming from the Philippines.
These products include canned, dried, or fresh food exports
In the human resource sector, Sergey Proshin, vice-president of Intertrading, an independent nonprofit organization, said the country’s pool of “high-level” technicians is of great demand in Russia, in addition to nursing professionals.
Earning the reputation of being “hardworking and competent people,” Filipinos have a good chance to work in Russia and earn high pay, Sergey Kalashnikov, head of the Department of Social Development and Environment Protection of the Russian Federation said earlier.
Kalashnikov also said Russia’s economic boom that increased its citizens capability to invest and travel abroad may trickle down to Cebu’s tourism industry, as Russians will likely visit the province’s world-class beach resorts.
In line with these developments, Sukharev said the Russian Federation is planning to establish an association of Russian businessmen in the Philippines that will be “working on permanent basis” to ensure that all the objectives of the MOU are followed.
A second Russian delegation will visit Cebu within the year to meet with financial business leaders in the province.
The 54-member trade and investment mission from Russia composed of businessmen, industrialists and government officials, arrived in Cebu last Tuesday.
The mission, led by Mikhail Nikolaev, deputy chairman of the Council of Federation of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, is the first of its size visiting the Philippines since the founding of the Russian Federation in 1992. (MMM)
