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Dmitry Alexandrovich, please discuss Israel’s initiative to establish a common trade area with Russia.
Dmitry Maryasis, the executive director of the Russian-Israeli business council under the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry
The desire has been declared, and the issue was considered at a political level two years ago.
We haven’t discussed the technical details of the possible trade area yet.
The fact is that Israeli foreign economic policy
is based on signing many foreign trade and foreign economic treaties.
Israel has a treaty with MERKASOR in Latin America and agreements with Europe,
Israel is actually an associative member of the European Union,
an agreement on free trade in Southeast Asia.
The list is long.
For sure, this area seems to be interesting for Israel.
There is a paradigm of foreign economic policy development;
the issue is whether it matches interests of both parties today.
The question is difficult.
I think that signing of the additional treaty is better because any regulation,
any understanding of the scheme gives impetus to development of the bilateral trade-economic relations.
But I wouldn’t say that it will solve all the problems in our bilateral relations.
We should analyze the issue thoroughly.
Russia has its own agenda; Russia should protect its economic interests;
and as the level of our trade and economic cooperation is low,
it would be sufficient to cooperate within the WTO.
What are the most promising spheres for cooperation?
Three years ago I wouldn’t have even mentioned the energy sphere,
yet today it is a very promising sphere from all points of view,
and Israel is interested in it.
Here we have a rare story when Russia can provide an incredibly qualitative expertise.
While Israel had no gas and oil, it didn’t develop the sphere of production, distribution and trade.
Russia has always been present at the market, and Russia is a leading gas exporter in the world.
Israel has no such experts.
They have to attract international partners,
and Russia is a very beneficial partner in this case
because Gazprom doesn’t depend on contracts with Arabic countries, unlike many international corporations.
The other gas exporter is Qatar which has a certain attitude toward Israel.
That’s why the Russian experience is interesting.
Agriculture is also promising.
Israel is a recognized leader in agricultural technologies, and Israeli companies are working in Russia.
We have seen an interesting project in the Russian-Israeli Center of Agricultural Technologies.
One could see various agricultural technologies used in Russia in all directions
– from fish breeding to crop farming, vegetable farming, and so on.
Israel has a lot to offer in this sphere;
on the other hand, Russia is a great market which needs such technologies.
We have huge regions – the Krasnodar Territory, the Volgograd Region –
which climatically resemble Israeli agricultural regions, and this could be very interesting.
At least they are adequate to Israeli experience and Israeli climate conditions,
and it is also very promising.
I think the most promising cooperation is scientific and technological cooperation –
innovations and joint projects.
Today Russia wants to diversify economy.
That’s what we want.
Soviet scientific potential is still maintained in Russia.
I read lectures in Omsk and Khabarovsk.
There are talented young people who have their own projects.
The cooperation can bring very interesting results for Russia and for the region in general.
Not only for Russia, but also to European cooperation.
For example, Israel is an associative member of the European project, collider in CERN,
and it is very interesting.
So, I believe our economic future is in scientific and technological cooperation.