Russian President Dmitry Medvedev called for increased Russian- U.S. economic cooperation, stressing that Russia needs to learn from the experience of the United States in modernizing its economy.
Russian President Medvedev met with his U.S. counterpart Barack Obama on Thursday in the Czech Republic capital of Prague to sign a new nuclear arms reduction treaty.
"We really do have a gap in economic cooperation. [...] U.S. investment in the Russian economy only amounts to around $7 billion. This figure decreased slightly during the [economic] crisis," Medvedev said at the press conference.
The Russian president said the country's investment in the U.S. economy was nearly the same amount, indicating a parity of interests.
"If these figures are compared with the foreign investment in the U.S. economy from other countries, including countries with similar economic might to Russia, there is a difference of 20-30 times," Medvedev said.
Medvedev said Russia was seeking to create a high-tech economy.
"I will say directly: we would like to use U.S. experience," he said.
Normal economic relations between Russia and the U.S. were hampered by the 1974 Jackson-Vanik amendment, which denied normal U.S. trade relations to countries with non-market economies that imposed emigration restrictions on their citizens.
The amendment, originally designed to encourage the Soviet Union to allow its Jews to emigrate, is still in force.
PRAGUE, April 8 (RIA Novosti)
