Vladimir Putin Invites French Business Representatives to Participate in SPIEF 2019
On 18 April, Russian President Vladimir Putin met with senior executives of the biggest French companies in the Kremlin and invited them to participate in the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum which will take place on 6–8 June.
At the meeting, the President noted that over 600 French companies or companies with French capital and French participation operate in the Russian market, with the total amount of French investments in the Russian economy exceeding USD 18 billion.
Vladimir Putin assured the French entrepreneurs that Russia was doing its best to provide comfortable conditions for foreign investors, “Constant attention is given to lifting administrative barriers, providing optimal tax burden. Thanks to this, Russia has climbed up four spots to 31st in the World Bank’s Doing Business ranking this year. We have overtaken France by one spot. And I hope that working in Russia is no worse than working in France,” said the President.
Vladimir Putin also noted that Russia provides vast opportunities for foreign investors due to implementation of strategic national projects in the country and encouraged representatives of French business community to actively participate in digitalization projects and in implementation of socially significant projects.
