Joint event of the Chambers of Commerce and Industry of the Republic of Belarus and the Russian Federation "Unlocking the potential of innovation cooperation between Russia and Belarus – a vector of technological development and growth"

A joint event of the Chambers of Commerce and Industry of the Republic of Belarus and the Russian Federation, timed to coincide with the 11th Forum of Regions of Belarus and Russia, was held in Vitebsk. The participants discussed a wide range of issues united by the common theme "Unlocking the potential of innovation cooperation between Russia and Belarus – a vector of technological development and growth".

The event, which took place at the Vitebsk State University named after P.M. Masherov, gathered more than 80 participants – representatives of Chambers of Commerce and Industry and business community of Belarus and 12 regions of Russia. The event was attended by Valentin Baiko, member of the Council of the Republic of the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus, Deputy Chairman of the Standing Committee on Economy, Budget and Finance, Konstantin Dolgov, Deputy Chairman of the Committee on Economic Policy of the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, Honorary Consul of the Republic of Belarus in Moscow, and Nadezhda Lazarevich, First Deputy Chairman of the Minsk City Executive Committee.

The event was moderated by Mikhael Miatlikov, Chairman of the Belarusian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and Vladimir Padalko, Vice President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation.

As the BelCCI Chairman noted in a conversation with the media before the event, the inter-chamber business meeting has become a good tradition of the Forum of Regions of Belarus and Russia. "This is a long-awaited business event for both sides, for which both we and our Russian guests and partners have been preparing in advance. That is why the agenda today is very interesting and rich," Mikhael Miatlikov announced. "The pool of speakers is unique – almost all the speeches will be on the innovative potential, future joint innovative projects, including for import substitution; and the negotiations, which were attended by experts and business leaders, I am sure, will be a unique opportunity to establish new business contacts."

Vladimir Padalko, Vice President of the CCI of Russia, also spoke about the relevance of the agenda: "We are moving to a rather complex form of interaction at the business community level – industrial cooperation and innovations. These are the issues that will be on the agenda."

He also emphasized that the Russian delegation includes industrialists and entrepreneurs aimed at substantive discussion of specific issues of interaction with Belarusian partners, including in innovation sphere.

The event became a platform for discussing topical issues of business interaction between the two countries. The speakers of the main part were heads of regional chambers of commerce and industry of Belarus and Russia (Tyumen and Tula regions, the Republic of Tyva, Moscow and Moscow region), as well as heads of business unions, enterprises and foundations, who presented their vision of promising areas of Belarusian-Russian trade and economic interaction development.

The experience and prospects of cooperation of infrastructural elements of innovative entrepreneurship support within the framework of the Union State, promising areas of partnership between Belarusian and Russian entrepreneurs in the innovative sphere for urban environment digitalization, mechanisms of efficient payments without dependence on international systems, possible points of interaction between Belarus and Kuzbass, the potential for cooperation between small and medium-sized businesses, manufacturing enterprises of the two countries, innovative approaches and tools used by the regional chamberf of Russia, as well as an effective logistics corridor to supply goods to the third countries were presented in detail.

After the speakers' speeches, five documents were signed aimed at strengthening and filling the plans for regional inter-chamber cooperation in the medium term. In particular, the Grodno Branch of the BelCCI signed cooperation agreements with the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Republic of Tuva and the Penza Regional Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Vitebsk Branch of the BelCCI secured partnership ties with the Kuzbass Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Smolensk Region Investment Development Corporation LLC, the Gomel Branch of the BelCCI – with the Volgograd Region Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

In the solemn atmosphere of the event the Chairman of the BelCCI Mikhael Miatlikov handed over the certificate of the Register of Reliable Partners to the General Director of LLC "METALLOPTSBYT"; and Vice President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation Vladimir Padalko handed over the diplomas of the Council of Heads of CIS Member States' Chambers for active participation in the development of congress and exhibition activities to the representatives of JSC "Naftan" and JSC "Mogilevliftmash".

The event continued with negotiations in the format of business networking.