U.S.-Russian Commercial Relations

RAPP Works to Improve U.S.-Russian Commercial Relations

(Bilateral forum connects Russian and American traders, innovators) (947)

By Alexandra Draggeim Staff Writer

Washington - Separated by the vast expanse of the Pacific Ocean, the Russian Far East and the American West Coast seem to be worlds apart. Yet the Russian-American Pacific Partnership (RAPP), a nongovernmental program of the Foundation for Russian American Economic Cooperation (FRAEC), strives to overcome the challenges presented by geography.

RAPP hosts annual working groups and publishes reports with recommendations on stimulating U.S.-Russia economic and non-commercial cooperation. More than 4,500 people have participated in the working groups over the past 15 years.

"RAPP's accomplishments and contributions to positive U.S.-Russian relations over the last 16 years cannot be minimized," said Kyle Scott, director of the State Department's Office of Russia Affairs, in remarks to the group's 14th annual meeting on September 29, 2009. "It is the good work that people on the ground do every day in engaging their U.S. or Russian partners in business that establish ties that will endure and carry the U.S.-Russian relationship through both the good and the challenging times."

The Russian Far East and Eastern Siberia are of great interest to American businesses, who, according to RAPP Director Derek Norberg, have a competitive advantage in the area. Norberg told America.gov that RAPP is the longest continually running bilateral forum between the two countries.

He sees the work of RAPP as closely aligned with the goals of the U.S.-Russia Bilateral Presidential Commission. RAPP's recommendations on business reforms were taken up by the commission's Business Development and Economic Relations Working Group in October 2009.

But analysts say the challenge is great. U.S.-Russia trade totaled just $25 billion in 2009, and foreign direct investment in each other's economies remains very low, but is growing. The focus of the working group is to find "practical steps our two countries can take to remove obstacles to business and improve conditions for private investors," Scott said.

RAPP believes it can help. According to Norberg, RAPP's suggestions helped convince the Russian government to lower import tariffs on certain types of equipment. And RAPP brought the suggestion of lowering work-permit costs and expediting visa procedures to the attention of the Russian government, where the issue is now receiving high-level attention.

RAPP, founded in 1994, was first funded through the U.S. Commerce Department and then the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). Now it increasingly relies on sponsorships from the private sector.

At the 2009 meeting in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, the administrative center of the Sakhalin Region comprised of islands to the north of Japan, 125 public- and private-sector representatives from five Russian Far East regions, Moscow, St. Petersburg and five U.S. states gathered to discuss ways to improve East-West commercial relations.

In a welcoming video address, U.S. Ambassador to Russia John Beyrle said, "I urge you to use RAPP as a forum - not just for discussion, but for leadership. We need to build a basis to re-establish direct scheduled flights between the U.S. and Russia over the Pacific. We need to see the joint U.S.-Russia nature preserve in Beringia move from the discussion and planning phase to implementation. We must solve some of the outstanding barriers to trade - and publicize the fact that the U.S. and Russia are building a strong future here in the Pacific. We need creative thinking about new ways to bring our tourists and students and cultural leaders together."

RAPP's 2010 annual meeting, which will include a trade exhibition, will take place in Portland, Oregon, September 14-16. Invited participants include the governors of the Kamchatskiy Territory and the Sakhalin Region and senior officials from the U.S. departments of Commerce and State. RAPP has also invited Microsoft to make a presentation on its Citizen Services Platform as a way for Russia's regions and municipalities to comply with the federal mandate to offer online government services throughout the country by 2015.

In addition to business reforms, RAPP's recommendations - which were supported by the office of Russian President Dmitry Medvedev's Ex-Plenipotentiary Representative in the Far East - have expanded to cooperation on the preservation of shared natural resources such as wild salmon, polar bears and endangered species. At the 2010 meeting, RAPP is proposing to host presentations on the Salmon Initiative by the Wild Salmon Center, the Muravyovka Park for Sustainable Land Utilization in the Amur Region, and the Beringia Shared Heritage Program ( http://www.america.gov/st/peopleplace-english/2010/July/20100711084242FJreffahcS0.659878.html ).

The 2009 RAPP recommendations to the two governments communicated the significance of Fort Ross, an important Russian agricultural and commercial settlement in California from 1812 to 1841. Among the first Russian settlers were scientists who brought to the state its first windmills and shipbuilding, as well as innovations in glass windows, stoves and all-wood housing. Fort Ross State Park was in danger of being closed due to California's budget deficit, but during President Medvedev's visit to California in June 2010, the Renova Group, headed by Russian corporate leader Victor Vekselberg, pledged its financial support and pledged to keep the park open.

The RAPP's future plans are not limited to conference rooms; RAPP is proposing that a delegation from the Russian Far East travel to Seattle after the 2010 meeting to learn about green building and energy-efficiency technology, priority areas for both the United States and Russia.

Alexander Vershbow, former U.S. ambassador to Russia, underscored the significance of the program in his letter to the 9th annual RAPP meeting: "The RAPP is a prime example of U.S.-Russian cooperation at the regional level. The contacts you make and the deals you strike reinforce the growing mutual understanding between our two countries."

ENDS

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