Russia ‘welcomes goods from Saudi Arabia’

RIYADH: Russia is keen to import and procure good applied sciences and experience from its companions, the deputy minister of trade and commerce of the Russian Federation stated on Monday.

Alexey Gruzdev spoke to Arab Information on the sidelines of a high-profile discussion board that started in Riyadh geared toward figuring out funding alternatives to spice up financial ties between Saudi Arabia and Russia.

Made in Russia + Innoprom is a two-day occasion consolidating each nations’ dedication to mutually useful partnerships and sustained progress.

Stressing the significance of imports to his nation, Gruzdev urged Russian corporations to discover the huge alternatives Saudi Arabia has to supply.

“Russian corporations ought to come right here (Saudi Arabia) to research and perceive the experiences and capabilities of the native producers and likewise to see the supplies, elements, and companies that may be imported from Saudi Arabia to Russia,” Gruzdev stated.

Replying to Arab Information query about measures Russia took to handle the commerce imbalance with Saudi Arabia, Gruzdev stated: “The rationale we got here right here is to look into this nice turnover and discover a means to enhance.”

He added: “It’d sound unusual that as a producing nation, we additionally speak about imports, however that is the mannequin of contemporary Russia; we’re not solely in a position to provide to the world, however we’re additionally able to import and procure good applied sciences and experience from our companions.”

Gruzdev additional defined that the nation is now implementing an import substitution technique to interchange suppliers who attempt to impose sanctions on Russia with services from pleasant international locations.

He stated: “This sort of substitution signifies that we welcome items from Saudi Arabia to Russia.”

The minister stated that Russia can considerably profit from Saudi imports in a variety of financial sectors.

“A giant half is equipment,” Gruzdev added, “we will additionally profit loads from biotechnology, chemical compounds, elements, and uncooked supplies … there’s a broad number of curiosity.”

Gruzdev said that Saudi companies may benefit from Russia’s massive mining, prescription drugs, expertise, and aviation industries.

“I’d additionally recommend Saudi corporations (to) spend money on Russian startups and modern corporations in data expertise, cybersecurity, and renewable vitality,” he added.

The occasion highlighted the immense alternatives within the digital economic system and superior applied sciences, emphasizing the need of collaboration in these burgeoning fields. The infrastructure has sector additionally emerged as a promising avenue for joint ventures.

On the primary day of the occasion, Saudi Deputy Minister of Funding Badr Al-Badr confused the significance of Saudi-Russia commerce relations. He stated Russia is the 14th largest exporter to the Kingdom.

“The trajectory of Saudi exports to Russia has not adopted the identical path; Saudi exports to Russia between 2017 and 2022 have grown solely by about 30 p.c,” Al-Badr stated.

He added: “In 2022, the worth of the Saudi export to Russia was solely 2 p.c of the worth of imports from Russia. That is clearly a significant opportunistic space for us.”

The Saudi deputy minister additionally underscored essential sectors resembling vitality, expertise, and infrastructure, underlining their vital potential for bilateral cooperation.

One other key focus was the pivotal function of the vitality and mining sectors, with Saudi Arabia being the main world oil exporter and Russia being a significant oil and gasoline powerhouse.

These initiatives mirror the joint resolve of Saudi Arabia and Russia to spice up financial ties, setting a brand new progress trajectory within the post-pandemic period.