subscribe to news Sergey Bednov attends meeting between CCI of Russia heads and Federation Council members

A traditional meeting between heads of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Russia, activists of the country’s biggest business association, and members of the Federation Council of the Russian Federal Assembly has taken place at the CCI.

That was the seventh meeting since 2004. The exchange of views on the most important aspects of business development and laws necessary for business growth helps adjust the joint activity of entrepreneurs and lawmakers. This work is being done in furtherance of the cooperation agreement signed by the CCI of Russia and the Federation Council in 2013.

Lawmakers adopted 325 federal laws during the spring session alone. The CCI of Russia provided support for over 140 bills and initiated 20 packages of amendments. Its representatives are taking active part in expert discussions, parliamentary hearings, and round tables held by the Federation Council.

As Federation Council Deputy Speaker Yury Vorobyov noted in his speech, the goal of the meeting was not just to exchange opinions but also to give an impetus to our interaction and the dialogue between the authorities and businessmen as a whole. “We can determine a range of issues, in which the Federation Council and the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Russia will be cooperating in the coming years. In particular, we should update the content of the bilateral agreement, strengthen relations between our committees, and elaborate specific legislative initiatives,” he said.

President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Russia Sergey Katyrin dedicated most of his speech to concerns of domestic businessmen. For example, the CCI of Russia believes that discussions of the federal budget for the period until 2022 should result in larger financing of processing and machine building industries, which have a good export potential and high domestic demand. Besides, the CCI of Russia calls for enlarging the budget of the Industry Development Fund and calls attention to the efficiency of spending the funds allocated for the national project "Small and Medium Business and Support for Individual Entrepreneurial Initiative."

An important item on the agenda was legislation pertaining to exhibition activity. Sergey Bednov, Chairman of the CCI Committee for Exhibition, Trade Fair and Congress Activities and Expocentre Director General, noted the importance of trade shows for export potential of regions and inter-regional economic relations. A number of outstanding problems must be settled so that the trade shows could play the role, which is so important for regions and promote their products to the domestic and foreign markets. Insufficient support for trade shows, weak physical infrastructure, and imperfect norms and laws should be dealt with in the first turn.

Government support for trade shows and conventions practically does not apply to domestic trade shows. Trade shows and conventions held in regions are still viewed as a type of commercial activity, which makes them subject to relevant cadastre rates. Such systemic problems can be resolved through adoption of the federal law "On Exhibition, Trade Fair and Congress Activities in the Russian Federation," Sergey Bednov said.

Expocentre Press Service based on materials of CCI of Russia