Russia's trade turnover with Alliance of Sahel States countries low, far from its potential - Foreign Ministry

MOSCOW. Oct 27 (Interfax) - Russia considers it necessary to give an impetus to economic cooperation with African countries, and current trade turnover does not match the existing potential, the director of the Russian Foreign Ministry's Department of Partnership with Africa Tatyana Dovgalenko said.

"We have managed to bring the political dialogue and joint work on security issues to a qualitatively new level. Contacts between the ministers of foreign affairs, defense, justice and education are developing. And now it is extremely important to give an impetus to economic cooperation specifically, because trade turnover with our countries is low and far from its potential," Dovgalenko said during a meeting with the economy ministers of the Sahel countries at VEB.RF ahead of the third Russia-Africa summit and economic and humanitarian forum.

The Russian side sees a request from "partners for creating added value on the continent, for the localization of production," she said. "We fully support this and see in it objective processes of the formation of a distinctive and influential center of global development in Africa," Dovgalenko said.

The common tasks for the countries at present are "stimulating investment growth and launching infrastructure initiatives in line with the needs of the AES [Alliance of Sahel States] countries in the energy, agriculture, logistics and extractive industries," she said.