Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia A.V. Yakovenko addresses the members of the Russian-American business dialogue during the 13th Economic Forum in St. Petersburg.

We generally accord great attention to the personal meetings of our political leaders that set a new tone for our bilateral relations. The first talks of the presidents of Russia and the United States, which took place on April 1 in London just prior to the G-20 summit aimed at solving the global economic crisis, did not constitute an exception from the general rule. The main result of the meeting was the decision of our leaders to restart the relations between the countries. The two presidents also touched on the different aspects of economic cooperation between Russia and the U.S. The process of straightening out our relations in all areas and setting them on the right course has been initiated. As far as commercial cooperation goes, the expectation is that it will be greatly intensified and expanded. We are not afraid of restarting or resetting this field of our cooperation because greater commercial contacts and higher trade turnover and investment volumes mean that the people in our countries benefit more. Figuratively speaking, only the rails of economic cooperation can bring the train of Russian-American relations to the destination set by the presidents.

Today, there are new opportunities being formed in Russian-American relations, and it is essential to take advantage of them for all of us. The signals coming from the White House indicate that the new presidential administration has a desire to improve America’s relations with Russia and to solve the problems that have come between us in the several recent years. Russia approves of these goals, and its own wishes are quite similar.

At the same time, pragmatic sentiments prevail with regards to what can really be accomplished. It is evident that all of the disagreements between Russia and the U.S. will not disappear in a matter of several hours. Yet, the opportunity for enhancing the quality of our relations is there. Russia is prepared to do its part. Many things depend on what the U.S. will do.

The current economic crisis made us understand two very important lessons. The first one is that we can deal with it only by working together. The second issue is that economic security, including financial and energy security are no less significant than the problems associated with nuclear proliferation.

There is no doubt that our strides to develop the economic relations with America will be reciprocated. We really do have something that we can offer each other. We are not beginning with virgin soil, by no means. A positive experience of joint work of our two countries will form the foundation of our cooperation in the future.

The Russian-American relationship has been one of the most significant priorities for our country’s foreign policy. The United States is traditionally regarded as an important and responsible trading partner. The growth in the volumes of our bilateral trade from year to year is impressive. Despite the effects of the global crisis, the trade turnover between Russia and the U.S. for 2008 increased by more than a third, reaching USD 36.1. In 2007, the figure was USD 26.7 billion. The results of 2008 show that the U.S. takes the 8th place in the ranking of countries, whose companies and individuals have investments in Russia. American investors now have USD 8.8 billion in Russia, a number that constitutes 3.3 percent of the total figure of USD 265 billion. By 2008, cumulative investments of Russian companies in the American economy were USD 5.5 billion. Of that number, USD 4.7 billion is FDI. While it may look that these figures are significant, they are not the best that our countries are capable of.

A number of analysts agree that the cause of the limited scope of Russian-American investment cooperation is the absence of a bilateral investment treaty providing incentives to investors. Russia has such treaties in place with 38 countries, including the majority of EU countries. Russia would be ready to enter into a treaty of this kind with the United States. This issue was included into the Declaration for the Strategic Framework of Russian-American cooperation that was signed in Sochi in April of 2008. “Russia and the United States will move forward the efforts to adopt a new bilateral agreement providing incentives and protection to investments for insuring stable investment activity,” the document states.

In his speeches, President Dmitriy Medvedev has emphasized repeatedly that Russian-American financial and commercial relations are strategic in nature. It is necessary to harness the full potential of our economic partnership. Today we have the most beneficial circumstances for accomplishing these tasks.

Our mutual task today is to make economic cooperation the stabilizing factor for the whole array of fields where Russia and America work together. Economic interests will guarantee that our relations will not fall victims to unforeseen circumstances.

The existing potential of our countries must be utilized with the greatest advantage for all of us to increase trade, as well as to enhance cooperation in such areas as the energy sector, bio– and nanotechnologies, medicine, space exploration, and education. Collaboration will bring tangible benefits to the economies of our countries.

In the face of negative ramifications of the global financial crisis, we were able to reach an agreement on establishing a constantly-open intergovernmental communication channel for discussing all areas of our trade and economic cooperation. The discussion of trade on an intergovernmental level, as well as the institutionalization of our modes of dialogue, will spur new positive developments in Russian-American cooperation.

The Russian government is currently making active preparations for the visit of President Obama to Moscow on July 6-8, 2009. Russia is taking specific steps to accomplish the goals set by President Medvedev and Barack Obama. In London, our Presidents spoke in favor of creating a commission for trade and economic cooperation, which will be an inalienable part of the dialogue between our countries. The governmental channel will promote the direct communication of businessmen and allow for productive collaboration in the fields of space exploration, aviation, medicine, and atomic energy.

Russian businesses are prepared to have long-term relations with the U.S. The business circles of our countries are already working in close contact. The joint proclamation made during the March 10 visit to the Chamber of Commerce of the U.S. in Washington, D.C. of a delegation from Russia’s Union of Entrepreneurs and Industrialists sets out the most important goals and targets that the major players in our commercial relations consider imperative. The commitment of our leaders to develop healthy partnerships is easily felt every time that our businessmen come out with such statements as this one.

In December of last year, during a meeting with the Association of European Businesses, Russia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergei Lavrov made a proposal to begin working on creating a joint economic space to include Russia, the European Union, and the U.S. The Minister gave strong arguments for that idea: Russia welcomes the creation of a unified trade zone with the EU. In its turn, the U.S. has already discussed the creation of a free trade regime with the EU. According to Minister Lavrov, the creation of such bilateral free trade zones must not be detrimental to the interests of other countries that also have free trade treaties. It is only logical to create a trilateral free trade regime in the form of an equilateral triangle. The European Union could become the linking chain that connects Russia and the U.S. together. There is little doubt that this type of economic cooperation will be advantageous for all countries in the world, whose economies were affected by the crisis. In view of the reality that international economic relations are best handled by members of the private sector that venture into the most promising areas of work, the business elites of Russia, the U.S., and the European Union can play a pivotal role in encouraging free trade.

The current financial crisis clearly shows that cooperation between countries to counter and prevent economic calamities should be based on an approach that is free from ideological biases. The crisis demands for everyone to reject old tactics and to make complex decisions collectively.

Russia is becoming a more attractive country for foreign investors. Greater opportunities are becoming available to foreign businessmen in the country. Improvements in the business and investment climate allow for making complex and long-range plans of commercial activities.

A significant component of welding firmer economic relations between our countries is the negotiations process that Russia now carries on to obtain membership in the WTO and the OECD. Russia does take note of America’s support for the country’s membership in the WTO. “We both made promises to direct the members of our government to take all measures necessary to complete Russia’s accession to the WTO and to continue the work of strengthening Russian-American economic relations,” the joint declaration of Dmitriy Medvedev and Barack Obama stated. Russia remains hopeful that the process can be completed by the end of the current year. The accession of Russia to the World Trade Organization will constitute a formal recognition of the country’s full integration into the global economy.