Mr. Yakovenko told RIA Novosti shortly before Vladimir Putin's visit to Chile that the priority task of Russian-Chilean interaction is increasing trade turnover. Its present volume is some $50 million, which, in Moscow's opinion, does not correspond to the sides' potential.
In the diplomat's words, Russia and Chile aim at implementing joint projects in a number of branches. "There are substantial reserves to promote to the Chilean market domestic high technologies, boost interaction in the aerospace and mining spheres, peaceful nuclear energy and the power industry. Prerequisites are created to expand ties in the field of space exploration and military-technical cooperation," said Mr. Yakovenko.
"New possibilities of interaction were opened by the October 2003 Chile visit of Russian business circles' delegation, which held a series of talks on cooperation in mining, establishing direct inter-bank correspondence relations, joint participation in oil and gas projects in third countries," believes the Russian Foreign Ministry official spokesman.
In Mr. Yakovenko's words, it's planned to conclude agreements that will contribute to establishing cooperation in the sphere of high technologies. An interstate convention on avoiding double taxation will also make part of the package of documents planned to be signed.
The full version of the interview is available at RIA Novosti's web site www.rian.ru.
