15:35, 20 April 2009 | GMT +5
RF, Finnish presidents to talk on increasing trade despite crisis
MOSCOW. April 20. KAZINFORM During the state visit of Russian President Dmitry Medvedev to Finland the sides do not plan to conclude any agreements, but they will consider many issues of the bilateral cooperation development; Kazinform refers to ITAR-TASS.

Russian presidential aide Sergei Prikhodko explained that ?initially the visit was planned not as a state, but as a working one, therefore the preparation of new agreements was timed to it.? However, he said, the bilateral cooperation is developing rather actively and the documents are signed in the regular course of business.
?The forthcoming top-level talks are expected to be focused on trade-economic cooperation issues,? Prikhodko said. He cited data of the RF Federal Customs Service: ?Russian-Finnish trade turnover in 2008 reached a record high level of 22.4 billion US dollars; it grew by 46.9 percent.? ?The present stage?s important task is to preserve this positive dynamics,? believes the Kremlin official. However, in January this year, the bilateral trade already decreased by 38.2 percent as compared with January 2008. Prikhodko noted that the ?activities of the bilateral intergovernmental commission is oriented towards the adaptation of the economic ties for the conditions of the global financial crisis, as well as for the expansion of the investment cooperation.?
As of the beginning of 2009, the volume of accumulated direct investments of Finland in Russia reached 2.1 billion US dollars, that is 1.7 percent of all direct foreign investments accumulated in Russia. Finland is eighth among foreign investors in Russia in this regard.
?The development of cooperation in the spheres where Russia and Finland have competitive advantages - the power engineering industry, shipbuilding, new materials and optoelectronics - are among promising bilateral projects,? believes Prikhodko. He added that the ?experience of the creation of the national innovation system in Finland is quite useful for Russia?; Kazinform cites ITAR-TASS.
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