From October 29th through the 30th, more than 200 experts on the Russian-American economic partnership gathered in Houston, Texas, accompanied by government officials and business leaders from the United States and Russia. The reason for their trip to the oil and gas capital of the world was the annual meeting of the U.S.-Russia Business Council (USRBC).

The U.S.-Russia Business Council is a Washington-based trade association that provides business development, dispute resolution, government relations, and market intelligence services to its American and Russian member-companies.

Sergei Kislyak, Russia’s Ambassador to the United States, came to Houston, as did his counterpart Michael McFaul, the Ambassador of the United States to Russia. In his remarks, Ambassador Kislyak commented on the current status of Russian-American relations. Among the companies that sent representatives to USRBC’s annual meeting were ExxonMobil, Alcoa, Lukoil, Pfizer, EY, Renova, Ford, AbbVie, Coca-Cola, Chevron, PepsiCo, Johnson & Johnson, Visa, Abbott, TMK IPSCO, Deere, and the Russian Railways. All these corporations have a long history of contributing to Russian-American cooperation in a significant way. Representatives of small businesses from the two countries, whose input is relatively smaller, also were in attendance at the USRBC event.

Sergei Kislyak in his speech gave a brief overview of the Russian economy, emphasizing that in the “doing business” ranking, Russia has entered the top one hundred countries, climbing 19 points to the 92nd place. The Russian Ambassador concluded that the strengthening of the Russian-American business partnership is one of the most important tasks on the bilateral agenda.

In the view of the American Ambassador Michael McFaul, the Russian-American relationship should stay stable and steady -steering clear of either passionate love or a heartbroken divorce. He stated that America is without any doubt interested in a strong, prosperous, and democratic Russia –  a Russia that would be a partner of the United States. Talking about the business relationship between the two countries, Ambassador McFaul underscored the growing role of the small business community.

Market analysts and industry experts continued the dialog in a constructive tone throughout the annual gathering. They discussed many different topics, including the improvement of Russia’s investment climate, Russia’s global integration and its WTO experience, the evolving energy landscape and its implications for continued U.S.-Russia cooperation, the work of the Eurasian Economic Commission, as well as Russian-American collaboration in innovation and healthcare.

During the event, the Houston Technology Center and the Skolkovo Technopark signed a Cooperation Agreement and announced a reciprocal exchange of startups beginning this November.

Summing up the meeting’s results, Klaus Kleinfeld, Chairman and CEO of Alcoa and Chairman of USRBC, stated that the business community is leading the way to make sure that bilateral commercial relations remain strong despite political challenges.

USRBC president and chief executive officer Dan Russell concluded by saying “Economic ties between our countries are expanding and deepening, and it is upon that basis that USRBC will be pursuing opportunities for bilateral commercial cooperation.”