Trade, science & culture: Russia, Venezuela to draw up 10-year cooperation plan

Russia and Venezuela have agreed to develop an official long-term cooperation agenda. The document will determine trade, economic, scientific, technical and cultural relations between the countries.

“We’ll try to draw up a strategic document for the next intergovernmental commission, which will determine the relations between our countries for a long period,” Russian Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Borisov told the press following a meeting with President of Venezuela Nicolas Maduro. He noted that the document would outline collaboration between the two countries at least until 2030.

The minister said that his meeting with Maduro was of a technical nature, where they “discussed specific issues to increase trade, to restore the Venezuelan economy.”
The Venezuelan leader called the long-term cooperation plan “a good idea.”

“I think it’s a good idea to work out a plan for 10 years to clearly represent our future,” Maduro told reporters following the meeting with Borisov. The Venezuelan leader also said that Moscow and Caracas had extended contracts in the military sphere and agreed on new projects in agriculture.

“In agriculture, new highly advanced projects will appear with the direct presence of Russian investment and technology,” Maduro stated. He emphasized that the discussion mostly covered food production.

Ahead of the negotiations between the presidents of the Russian Federation and Venezuela, the meeting materials seen by journalists also stated that Russia plans a three-fold increase in grain supplies to Venezuela in 2019 – up to 600,000 tons from 254,000 tons in 2018. Overall, throughout the past few months, trade turnover between the countries has grown by 10 percent.

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