Упрощенная HTML-версия
Электронное приложение к журналу «
Международная жизнь
»
Author : V. Lukov
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation to the Kingdom of Belgium,
Doctor of Sciences (History),
RUSSIAN-BELGIAN RELATIONS have deep historical roots.
Traditionally, the trailblazers in their development were craftsmen
and traders. Ever since the days of Lord Novgorod the Great,
European wines, fabrics and laces have been held in great esteem.
Meanwhile, those goods were brought to us by Frisian merchants
from the Flemish coast. They also delivered Russian furs, flax
fabrics, resin, and hemp to Western Europe.
Business contacts between our two countries boomed on the
borderline of the 19th and 20th centuries. That was a time when
BelgianMONEY really moved into Russia. A combination of a
favorable investment environment, provided by the Russian government, on the one hand,
and the mobility, advanced technology, and financial capacity of the Belgians, on the other,
produced a remarkable result.
Today, there is good reason to say that our business ties with Belgium have entered a path
of stable, diversified development.
In the past several years, Russian business also has achieved tangible successes on the Bel-
gian market.
It is very important that our business cooperation is not, figuratively speaking, only about
Russian oil in exchange for Belgian chocolate.
There are also overlapping areas of cooperation, combining both commercial and social
components. This refers, in particular, to cooperation between Russian state-run and pri-
vate healthcare establishments with HealthCare Belgium. This is an association of 11 lead-
ing hospitals, scientific medical centers and pharmaceutical companies, created especially
to develop contacts with foreign partners. The Belgians have quite a bit to offer in this
field: Their achievements in burns surgery, neurosurgery, oncology, and cardiology are
widely recognized throughout the world.
The regional dimension of Russian-Belgian business cooperation plays an increasing role.
Another valuable instrument in coordinating the activity of state agencies and business
structures in both countries in the interest of promoting business ties is the Intergovern-
mental Commission for Cooperation between Russia and the Belgium-Luxembourg Eco-
nomic Union (the co-chairman on the Russian side is Russian Culture Minister A.A.
Belgium, Our Partner at the Heart of the European Union