MADRID: Russia was and will remain a strategic market for Spain- said Jose Luis Boneta, President of the Chamber of Commerce of the Kingdom of Spain, during his welcoming speech at the opening of the Russian-Spanish business forum.
“In light of this,” he stressed, “the work of the joint Russian-Spanish business Council should be an important tool for the development of not only large but also small and medium-sized businesses. Thus, we will be better able to use opportunities for open dialogue, cooperation in economy and trade,“ he added, going on to announce plans to continue strengthening mutual cooperation between the two countries in order to “better exploit the potential of [their] economic activities.”
In turn, Vice-President of the Confederation of entrepreneurial organizations of Spain, Joaquin Guay de Montella noted that for Spanish companies it is important to understand what measures the authorities of the Russian Federation will take for the development of trade and other bilateral relations between the two countries.
“We, in turn, have undertaken measures aimed at simplifying customs procedures, reducing existing barriers to trade. For example, simplifying the procedure of verification and monitoring by Spanish customs… these are all important incentives to increase the presence of Spanish business in the Russian market,” said Montella.
He also added that Russia is an attractive market for Spain not only because of its geographical features, but also due to the fact that their economies “complement each other”.
For his part, the Minister of Energy, Tourism and Digital Technologies of Spain, Alvaro Nadal, stated that Madrid is not completely satisfied with the level of bilateral trade relations, in which there is a lot of unrealized potential. “For more than 25 years, business contacts between Russia and Spain have functioned as a very important tool for our economic and trade relations. Because of this, they can develop successfully,” he said.
