The Seventh Joint Meeting of the Russian-Arab Business Council was held on May 21st-22nd, 2007, in Manama, Kingdom of Bahrain. The meeting was held under the patronage of Sheikh Khalifa Ben Salman Al-Khalifa, the Chairman of the Government of the Kingdom of Bahrain.
The Russian delegation included: V.P. Yevtushenkov, the Chairman of the RABC Russian Department, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of JSFC «Sistema», T.A. Gvilava, the RABC Director, T.V. Paramonova, the First Deputy Chairman of the Central Bank of Russia, A.A. Aslakhanov, the Advisor to the President of the Russian Federation, P.M. Fradkov, the First Deputy Director of the Investment Banking Operations Directorate «Vnesheconombank», A.M. Palankoev, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the commercial bank «Acropol» Ltd., A.B. Arutyunov, the President of JSC «VAO-Intourist», M.R. Fedotov, the General Director of CJSC «Agromarket-Trade», S.V. Cheremin, the Vice President of JSFC «Sistema».
Hassan Fahro, the Minister of Industry and Commerce of the Kingdom of Bahrain, headed the Arab delegation.
The Arab delegation included: Issam Abdullah Fahro, the Chairman of the Directors Board of the Bahraini Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Chairman of the Arab Department of the RADC in 2007, Jihad Hasan Bukamal, the Chairman of the Arab Department of the Russian-Bahrain Business Council, Adnan Cassar, the President of the General Union of Arab Chambers, Jacques Sarraf, the Chairman of the Russian-Lebanese Business Council, Tarek Abdelhadi Al-Qahtani, the Co-Chairman of the Russian-Saudi Business Council, Fuad Al-Ghanem, the President of «Fuad Al-Ghanem and Sons», Nizar Al-Sheikh, the Vice-President of the Oman Department of the Russian-Oman Business Council, Yousef Abdelwadud, the Chairman of the Yemeni Department of the Russian-Yemen Business Council, Ahmed Belhas, the Chairman of the Emirates Department of the Russian-Emirates Business Council, Abdurrahman Al-Attar, the President of the International Syrian Chamber of Commerce, Ilyas Gantus, the Secretary General of the General Union of the Arab chambers.
V.V. Putin, the President of the Russian Federation, pointed out in his message to the meeting participants the increasing pace of trade, economic, investment, and innovation cooperation. «Russia's largest economy operators are showing a growing interest to the Middle East, and they are working more and more actively in the region.»
Hassan Abdullah Fahro, the Minister of Industry and Trade of the Kingdom of Bahrain said: «The reforms have returned Russia to its place among the major industrial powers of the world...The growing role of the private sector in trade, industry, and investment, a clear vision of the development prospects, diversification in all sectors of commodity production and the service sector with reliance on modern technology ... and the creation of trade, financial, and investment centers have all created fruitful ground for the development of trade, economic, investment, and technological cooperation between the Arab and Russian sides.»
Within the framework of the VII Session of the RABC, a plenary session was held, and 4 round tables on cooperation directions were conducted. A presentation of Bahrain's investment climate was also carried out.
On the session second day, the Business Councils meetings were held: Russia-Bahrain, Russia-KSA, Russia-UAE, Russia-Jordan.
During the session, V.P. Yevtushenkov and F.Al-Ganem signed an agreement on creation of the Russian-Kuwaiti Business Council, that had become the fifteenth council in the RABC structure.