On May 24, Chongqing held an online meeting with Russia's Samara Oblast to discuss mutually beneficial and friendly cooperation opportunities in economy and trade, industry, transportation, logistics, and culture.
Chongqing held an online meeting with Russia's Samara Oblast on May 24. （Photo provided to iChongqing)
Li Mingquan, deputy director of the Foreign Affairs Office of Chongqing Municipal People's Government, said that Samara Oblast is an important partner of Chongqing in the Federal District along the Volga River in Russia. In recent years, the two sides have carried out close and fruitful exchanges and cooperation in economy and trade, culture and tourism, education, and youth exchanges.
In the post-pandemic era, Chongqing is willing to continue to deepen friendly exchanges with Samara Oblast at all levels. Under the guidance of the "Yangtze River-Volga River" local cooperation mechanism, the local leaders' forum of member states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, and other multilateral and bilateral cooperation mechanisms involving China and Russia, Chongqing stands ready to deepen practical cooperation between the two sides in trade, industrial park construction, logistics, culture and education, sports, media, and other fields, so as to benefit the peoples.
Shcherbakova, director of the External Relations Office under the Governor's Office of Samara Oblast, said that Samara Oblast and Chongqing have forged strong friendships and launched frequent and close exchanges. The meeting is expected to serve as an opportunity for the two sides to strengthen mutual understanding and exchanges of information and promote cooperation for mutual benefits and more achievements.
Abramoff, director of the Investment and Investment Policy and Foreign Economic Relations Office of the Ministry of Economic Development and Investment of Samara Oblast, introduced the economic development and investment potential of Samara Oblast and expressed his willingness to further connect with Chongqing in automobile manufacturing, chemical industry, medicine, and other industries' cooperation resources.
The two sides agreed that they would regularly carry out meetings for project promotion and negotiations by industry and field so as to consolidate and expand the achievements of this meeting and solidify the foundation of friendly cooperation.
Representatives from Chongqing Investment Promotion Bureau and Chongqing Lianglu Guoyuan Port Comprehensive Bonded Zone also shared their opinions and made speeches on the industrial foundation and industrial development direction of Chongqing and the overall situation of the bonded zone, and put forward suggestions on cooperation.
Samara Oblast is located about 1,000 kilometers east of Moscow, with an area of 53,600 square kilometers and a population of about 3.13 million. The region, rich in natural resources such as oil, natural gas, and forest, is one of the most developed in Russia in industry and agriculture. In June 2014, Chongqing signed a cooperation agreement with Samara about economy, trade, science and technology, and cultural exchanges. In May 2019, a delegation of the Samara Oblast came to Chongqing to attend the 2019 Shanghai Cooperation Organization Heads of Region Meeting.