News date: 18 February 2016
Vladimir Zakharov, the Head of Ilyashev & Partners’ Moscow office, took part in the CIS Global Business Forum 2016: “CIS: “Ancient Routes – New Opportunities” which was held on February 17-18 and organized by the Dubai Chamber of Commerce & Industry (DCCI) in partnership with The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU).
Among one of the forum key topics was presentation by the DCCI and The Economist of the analysis of the current and trade connections between the CIS countries and Arab states of the Persian Gulf, as well as investment possibilities in such key areas as aviation, logistics, energy sphere, tourism, retail trade and real estate. The analysis stated that the trade flows between these regions are modest, totalling USD 8 billion in 2014. Almost all of this trade is between a few country pairs, mainly Saudi Arabia and the UAE with Russia and Ukraine, as well as the UAE with Turkmenistan. These five sets of bilateral flows, both imports and exports, made up 83% of total trade between the two regions. Some notable high average growth rates over the past five years are Saudi Arabian exports to Ukraine (up by 90%), UAE exports to Russia (69%) and UAE imports from Kazakhstan (45%).
A lot of attention was devoted to the concept “One belt, one road” according to which China is planning to build new “Silk road” from Asia to Europe which will pass through countries of the CIS, Turkey and Arab states of the Persian Gulf. Within the project it is planned to build an integrated economic belt consisting of infrastructure objects located in many countries. The concept was initially offered in 2015 by the Head of the People’s Republic of China, Xi Jinping, and at the moment China is negotiating the conditions of the future construction terms with the Governments of the countries – parties to the “Silk belt” project.
“Participation of international law firms – like Ilyashev & Partners Law Firm – in such business summits is a vitally important element of the development of international economic relations as soon as resolution of complex issues in the course of realization of large-scale cross-border projects and inevitably requires engagement of highly-skilled legal advisers who have both good knowledge about the particular legal frameworks and are perfectly aware of the nuances of political establishment and cultural environment of various countries”, – Vladimir Zakharov stated.
About the event
The Global Business Forum is an annual private event visited by the heads of states, members of Governments, representatives of business circles from different countries directed at the search of investment possibilities and partner projects. For the first time the forum was organized by Dubai Chamber of Commerce & Industry in 2012. In 2016 it was devoted to the emerging economies of the CIS countries.