Presentation of Siberia to take place in Italy tomorrow

A presentation of the Siberian Federal District will take place in Italy tomorrow. An official delegation, headed by Presidential Plenipotentiary to the Siberian Federal District Leonid Drachevsky, is traveling to Rome to make the presentation. The delegation also includes the governors of the Tomsk and Novosibirsk Regions as well as the Taimyr Autonomous District and the managers of several leading companies in Siberia including the Tomsk Petrochemical plant and the Baikal Timber Company.

The Italian Institute for Foreign Trade has helped to organise the event. This organisation has been called upon by the Italian government to develop and strengthen economic ties between Italy and other countries.

Russia and Italy's intention to raise the level of bilateral cooperation on a regional level was laid down in an agreement of friendship and cooperation in 1994 and was confirmed in the Plan of action for Russian-Italian relations which was signed during Russian President Vladimir Putin's visit to Italy in February 1998. 37 agreements of cooperation have been signed between the different regions of Russia and Italian partners since then. The most active Italian partners are in the rich industrial regions of Lombardy, Liguria and Friuli Venice Julia in the north of the country. The most active Russian partners are in the Central Region of Russia as well as the North West Federal District and Siberia.