May 31, 2005 - Moscow. German O. Greff, the RF Minister of Economic Development and Trade, and Carlos M. Gutierrez, the US Secretary of Commerce, met with the representatives of the Russian-American Business Council.

The meeting was scheduled as part of Mr. Gutierrez's first visit to Russia. The concept of the Russian-American Business Council was originated by the Presidents of Russia and the United States in 2001 to provide a new engine for economic cooperation between the two countries.

The Russian-American Business Council was founded by the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (Arkady I. Volsky) and the Russian-American Business Council (Yuli M. Vorontsov), on the Russian side, and the American Chamber of Commerce in Russia (Andrew B. Somers) and the US-Russia Business Council (Eugene K. Lawson), on the American side.

The meeting participants agreed that in the nearest future the Russian American Business Dialogue should focus on defining the ways to improve the business and investment climate in both countries. The discussion touched upon the improvement of tax administering procedures in Russia, the protection of intellectual property rights, the new customs code implementation, the liberalization of visa regime for business travelers, the shaping of positive public opinion in Russia and the USA towards a successful trade and economic cooperation between the countries. The energy sector, the aircraft engineering, the high-tech industry and the development of small and medium businesses were identified as the top priority areas for cooperation. The parties resolved to take mutual efforts to establish a favorable environment to foster the motivated international involvement of private businesses in these areas.

Elena V. Danilova, Director of the Department for Foreign Economic Relations of the RF Ministry of Economic Development and Trade, took part in the meeting.