Vice-president of the Chamber of commerce of the Russian Federation Mr. Georgy Petrov met with the Representative of the Taipei-Moscow Economic and Cultural Coordination Commission Mr. David C.Y. Wang.

      Despite the fact that the visit was a matter of protocol, the parties managed not only to make personal acquaintance, but also to compare notes on the main directions for cooperation under the conditions of complicated world economic situation.

      As Georgy Petrov recalled, in the 1st half of 2015 the total turnover between Russia and Taiwan amounted to about $ 2 billion - 30 percent decline compared with the 1st half of 2014, when the turnover amounted to about $ 3 billion. At that, Russian exports to Taiwan for the same period decreased by 32 percent to 1.4 billion dollars. Imports from Taiwan fell by 35 percent to $ 550 million.

      According to the Vice-President of the RF CCI, such poor performance, as well as the fact of a low exchange rate, and only seasonal availability of direct flights between Moscow and Taiwan make  the development process and support of  bilateral business rather difficult.

      David C.Y. Wang agreed with this view.  In his opinion, another barrier is that Taiwanese business circles are not always aware of the great potential of doing business in Russia. Therefore, the main thing that is needed now on both sides - Russian Chamber of Commerce and the Commission - is to continue to introduce business communities from Taiwan and Russia, to attract new investors into bilateral projects, especially with the great commercial potential.

      Russian Chamber of Commerce has long and good traditions of cooperation with Taiwan and the Taipei-Moscow Economic and Cultural Coordination Commission, Georgy Petrov recalled. Regular working contacts are maintained, joint events are held. The main format of cooperation is Russian-Taiwan business forums (held since 2003, no less than once every 2 years).

      The issues of cooperation in various fields are discussed on forums  -  from electronics manufacturing to biotechnology and petrochemical industry. The last such event was held in October 2014 in the RF CCI. The forum was attended by about 80 business representatives.

      However, according to David C.Y. Wang, business cooperation is a two way street. In this regard, he invited the delegation of the Russian Chamber of Commerce to Taiwan this autumn and suggested holding a bilateral business forum on the island.