The events of the XI Session of the Russian-Arab Business Council business program were held from June 7th to 9th, 2010 in Moscow, at the International Exhibition Center «Crocus Expo».
The RABC joint meeting was attended by the representatives of the Russian ministries and departments, business circles of Russia and the Arab countries, among which were the representative delegations from Iraq, Morocco, and Bahrain, as well as the delegations from Yemen, Tunisia, Palestine, and other countries. Jumaa Al-Ferjani, the Head of the Mission of the League of Arab States in Moscow, as well as the Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassadors of the Arab States in Moscow, and the diplomatic missions representatives also visited the forum.
The XI Session of RABC was held in Moscow side by side to the Second International Exhibition «Arabia-EXPO 2010».
This time, the representatives of several European countries took part in the exhibition: Finland, Slovenia, and Ukraine presented their stands. The exhibition featured pavilions of Bahrain, Algeria, Tunisia, Palestine, Morocco, Jordan, as well as the expositions of Russian companies interested in entering the Arab markets.
V.P. Yevtushenkov, the RABC Chairman, welcomed the Forum guests while opening the RABC Ninth Joint Meeting, he pointed out that the cooperation development of Russia and the Arab states remained highly dynamic.
He noted that «the very holding of the Second Arab Exhibition in Moscow and the program of business events within its framework with the participation of both the Arab and the Russian businessmen - all this confirms the positive attitude of the business circles of our countries. Such events make a significant contribution to the achievement of a new level of global partnership».
Then, A.V. Saltanov, the Special Representative of the President of the Russian Federation on the Middle East, the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, read the Greeting of V.V. Putin, the Prime Minister of Russian Federation, to the meeting participants, in which, in particular, it was emphasized that «such representative events within the framework of the dialogue with the Arab world are becoming a good tradition. This confirms the mutual interest in increasing trade, economic, scientific, technical, and investment cooperation, the implementation of large joint projects in the energy, industry, high technologies, infrastructure, and agriculture sectors».
Then the word was given to Ye.M. Primakov, the President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation, who stated that the cooperation between Russia and the Arab countries should develop not only at the interstate level, but also at the level of private business, as well as separate regions. He noted that although the volume of trade transactions between Russia and the Arab countries was growing - in 2009 it had amounted to $ 10 billion against 6 billion the previous year - this dynamic was still insufficient.
The session business program included: a plenary session, meetings of bilateral business councils, and sections on business interests, as well as negotiations between representatives of the Arab and the Russian business circles. Delegations from Iraq, Morocco, Bahrain, Yemen, Tunisia, Palestine, and other Arab countries took part in the session.