October 2, the Chairman of the Committee for External Relations of St. Petersburg, Alexander Prokhorenko, met at Smolny with the State Secretary of the Ministry of Economy, Energy and Industry of North Rhine–Westphalia, Dr. Gunther Horzetzky (Germany).
October 2, the Chairman of the Committee for External Relations of St. Petersburg, Alexander Prokhorenko, met at Smolny with the State Secretary of the Ministry of Economy, Energy and Industry of North Rhine–Westphalia, Dr. Gunther Horzetzky (Germany).
The parties discussed the prospects of cooperation in connection with the opening in St. Petersburg of a Russian representative office of the Economic Development Agency of North Rhine-Westphalia («NRW.Invest»). Mr. Prokhorenko noted that "the people of St. Petersburg highly appreciate it that the authorities of North Rhine-Westphalia, governed by its Prime Minister, Mrs. Hannelore Kraft, have selected St. Petersburg, the more so as the Agency shall cover the whole territory of Russia. We hope that the opening of this representative office of the most advanced economy of North Rhine-Westphalia will facilitate further expansion of our contacts. In this way, the city administration, and, in particular, the Foreign Relations Committee I am in charge of, has found a new and strong partner to promote business in St. Petersburg. Germany has been a strategic partner for the city not only in this Germany-Russia year. In 2011, Germany ranked second in the list of trade partners of St. Petersburg. Moreover, we have observed a sharp increase in our goods turnover: in the first half of 2012, it grew by 83%. The city has over 700 companies operating on German capital. This effectively indicates the safe and promising investment climate of the city for our German partners."
During the meeting, Alexander Prokhorenko outlined the following priority areas of cooperation between St. Petersburg and the region of North Rhine–Westphalia:
• application of a cluster policy;
• participation of companies from North Rhine-Westphalia as members of a special technology development economic area;
• improved contacts between small and medium enterprises;
• joint projects to preserve the historic center of the city, develop housing and utility services and the road infrastructure;
• cooperation in upgrades of enterprises;
• exchange of professional experience between health care specialists.
Mr. Prokhorenko also invited German companies to participate in such events as the Partneriat of "St. Petersburg - Regions of Russia and Abroad" to be held in March 2013, the St. Petersburg International Innovation Forum, the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, etc.
At the end of the meeting, Alexander Prokhorenko congratulated the citizens of Germany with their national holiday - the German Unity Day.
For more information, contact: Spokesman of the Committee for External Relations of St. Petersburg, Olga Volkova, 576-63-37, pr@kvs.gov.spb.ru