RSPP President Speaks at Foreign Trade Council

Russia’s Economic Development Minister Elvira Nabiullina chaired a session of the Council for Foreign Trade.

The Council, established in 2008 as a consultative body with the Economic Development Ministry, brings together representatives of business associations and leading Russian companies.

Among the participants were RSPP President Alexander Shokhin, members of the RSPP Bureau Dmitry Pumpyansky and Vladimir Dmitriev, representatives of business associations, ministries and government agencies along with some experts.

Speaking on adjustment of government-business interaction on foreign trade-related legislative drafting, Mr. Shokhin noted that over the past three years the Council had proved instrumental in bringing about constructive dialogue. What is still lacking, according to Mr. Shokhin, is a consistent consultation procedure between the Ministry and business associations. “What we are talking about here is institutionalization of the already existing ways of interaction between business and government in the sphere of foreign trade”, said Mr. Shokhin.

Mr. Shokhin also reminded the audience that experts with the RSPP International Cooperation Committee had prepared the draft procedure for interaction between the Ministry and business associations. The document has been approved by employers’ associations and forwarded to the Ministry. However, Mr. Shokhin said, any consultation mechanism would be meaningless without a ‘feedback system’, i.e. without the Ministry giving reasoned response concerning this or that proposal. “Only thus will business know it has been heard. Only a mechanism like that will succeed to the greatest degree”, Mr. Shokhin summed up.

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