The 12th meeting of a Russia-U.S. regional economic forum, involving 11 regions in Russia's Far East and eight U.S. states, opened Wednesday, a RIA Novosti correspondent said.
The Russian American Pacific Partnership (RAPP), an annual bilateral forum co-chaired by the Russian economics ministry and the U.S. Department of Commerce, is being held in the city of Yuzhno Sakhalinsk, on Sakhalin Island.
"Our annual forum helps to build business bridges across the Pacific and contributes to the expansion of trade and economic ties," the region's acting governor Natalya Novikova said.
The US Consular General in Russian Far East Thomas Armbruster said he hoped to extend cooperation between the USA and the Russian ports in the Far East, build up bilateral partnerships in the development of the forestry industry, and launch a scientific exchange program in geology and sea projects.
He said the American side was expecting a great deal from the meeting.
RAPP, formerly known as the U.S. West Coast-Russian Far East Ad-Hoc Working Group, was established in 1994 to encourage commercial cooperation between the U.S. West Coast and the Russian Far East.
The forum engages the private-sector and government to identify and address barriers to commerce expanding opportunities between the two regions. - RIA Novosti
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