Russian President Vladimir Putin has sent a message to participants in the first RussiaAfrica Economic Forum, which will be held in Sochi on 2324 October 2019 on the sidelines of the RussiaAfrica Summit. The events will be the largest of their kind in the history of RussiaAfrica relations.
In his message, the President specifically highlighted the importance of developing cooperation between countries and the positive experience that has been gained from developing joint projects: «Russian-African relations, which have traditionally been friendly and partner-like, have intensified significantly in recent years both at the bilateral level and in various multilateral formats. We have not only managed to preserve the experience gained from fruitful cooperation in the past, but have also achieved new major successes. Positive trends have been seen in trade turnover numbers and in the investment flows, and joint projects are being developed in the extractive industry, agriculture, healthcare, and education. Russian companies are ready to offer our African partners their scientific and technological developments and experience in modernizing energy, transport, and communication infrastructure.»
Putin also expressed confidence that the
Forum will become a unique platform for the discussion and adoption of
constructive decisions that aim to enhance cooperation: «I hope that new areas
and forms of cooperation will be outlined during the Forum and promising joint
initiatives will be put forward that will help take Russian-African
collaboration to a whole new level and develop our economies and the prosperity
of our peoples.»