News

Russia and Sudan Aim to Bolster Cooperation

Roscongress Foundation Chairman of the Board and CEO Alexander Stuglev held a meeting in Moscow with a delegation from the Sudanese Free Zones and Markets Company.

The meeting addressed prospects for expanding business cooperation. In particular, the Sudanese company invited the Roscongress Foundation to take part in the 40th anniversary of the Khartoum International Fair (24–31 January 2023), serve as a partner, and help form a Russian delegation for this event.

Samia Satti Osman Mohamed Nour, who led the delegation of the Sudanese Free Zones and Markets Company, noted that “the Sudanese company would like to expand cooperation with the Roscongress Foundation on the entry of Sudanese products to the Russian market, and should Russian businesses have interest in the Sudanese market, we are ready to provide the fair as a platform to organize the effective participation of representatives from a Russian delegation. In addition, given the expertise of the Roscongress Foundation team, we would like to sign a cooperation agreement at the Khartoum Fair site in order to join efforts on the forum track of our countries.”

The Sudanese company also proposed creating a specialized educational programme to improve skills, exchange experience, and train personnel taking into account the Roscongress Foundation’s many years of experience in holding events at the highest level.

“Over the years, Russian-Sudanese business ties have been discussed as part of the Roscongress Foundation’s major events. Above all, this includes the annual St. Petersburg International Economic Forum and Russian Energy Week. We are interested in expanding cooperation and are ready to share our experience in developing a business programme of events, conducting expert and analytical work, and working with project participants and partners, as well as on investment issues and preparing presentations of new projects as part of congress and exhibition activities. On 14–17 June 2023, St. Petersburg will host the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum. Another major event next year will be the second Russia–Africa Summit and Economic Forum and, of course, we would be happy to provide consulting assistance to business representatives and the official delegation of the Sudanese side at all our events,” Stuglev said.

“We highly value the results of our joint work at the summit. I am sure the achieved results are creating a good foundation for further deepening the Russia-Africa partnership in the interests of our nations’ prosperity and wellbeing.”

President of the Russian Federation
Vladimir Putin

The Russia–Africa Summit, which is taking place in Sochi on 23–24 October 2019, encapsulates the historically friendly relations between the African continent and the Russian Federation. This Summit carries great significance as it is the first of its kind to emerge during a period of major global and international transformations. In response to the aspirations of the people it is representing, the Summit intends to build a comprehensive framework for expanding Russian–African relations into broader horizons of joint cooperation across different fields.

The African nations and Russia share a common understanding of international relations, based on the principles of respect for the rule of international law, equality, non-interference in the internal affairs of states, and the peaceful resolution of disputes. Both sides affirm their commitment to support multilateral actions to oppose new international threats, be they terrorism and extremism in all their forms, or declining growth rates. The two sides share a firm conviction regarding the importance of developing trade flows and supporting mutual investment in such a way as to ensure security, peace and development for the African and Russian people.

African countries have huge potential and opportunities that will allow them, once efforts to streamline their economies have been achieved, to emerge as real global players. In recent years, the nations of this continent have achieved major successes spanning the political, economic, social and administrative spheres. Africa has flourished in terms of growth over the past decade, reaching a continent-wide growth rate of 3.55% in 2018.

The African Union Summit, which was held in Niger in July 2019, continued the efforts of the African countries and saw the African Continental Free Trade Agreement come into force, along with its operational instruments. The agreement is one of the key objectives of Agenda 2063, an African development strategy that has been created to address the African people’s desire for prosperity and decent living standards.

These successes are opening up wide-ranging prospects for cooperation between African countries and the Russian Federation, and confirm the determination of African governments and their people to cooperate with multiple partners in order to establish mutually beneficial relations.

With this in mind, we express our hopes that the Russia–Africa Summit will help in the establishment of constructive strategic relations, based on partnership between two sides across various fields, and in the service of fulfilling the hopes and aspirations of the African people and their friends in Russia.

President of the Arab Republic of Egypt
Abdelfattah ALSISI