Egypt tops Arab states in trade with Russia last year

Trade between Arab states and Russia was worth $14 billion in 2013, Kuwait’s KUNA news agency has reported. Egypt topped Russia’s Arab trade partners, with business valued at $2.9 billion.

In an interview with KUNA, the General Manager of the Russian-Arabic Business Council, Stanislav Yankovic, said that the amount of trade has been increasing steadily. He pointed out that Russian and Kuwaiti firms are discussing massive projects in Kuwait, other Arab countries and Africa. “We are planning to carry out massive projects in Russia as well as the Gulf States,” he added.

The Russian official noted that his country had acquired good experience in the field of business and investments and so is attractive for Arab investors. He said that the Business Council he leads offers guidance to many business people from the Gulf who are involved in various projects and has established good partnerships for Russian companies interested in doing business in the Arab world. Eighteen regional branches have been set-up which have already attracted an additional 500 companies to join the council, including banks.

Although many of the projects seeking Arab investment are in gas, oil, transportation, property, communication and infrastructure, Yankovic said that Russia, the Russian economy and Russian markets are wide enough to absorb investment in almost any field.