Russian and UK companies operating chiefly in London, Moscow and St. Petersburg need to head to the regions to expand their activities and boost investment opportunities, participants in the Russian-British investment forum said on Thursday.

“We see that trade between Russia and the UK is growing. Russia has always been an important partner…and these relations should move forward, and move forward in many different areas,” UK Ambassador to Moscow Tim Barrow told the Russia Talk forum organized by the Russo-British Chamber of Commerce.

Russia’s regions have vast investment potential, which can be tapped if UK companies have a better understanding of local opportunities, and if the British media were to help popularize information about the opportunities that exist in Russia, forum participants agreed.

In the meantime, the Moscow Exchange Group’s Managing Director Sergei Sinkevich said privatization was crucial for Russia to attract foreign capital and modernize the national economy.

Privatization helps the state transform the domestic stock market, which is undercapitalized, into a place where domestic enterprises can raise capital through share issues and get much-need financial resources for development, turns it into a center of liquidity to encourage domestic companies to list at home, and also ensures the presence of all classes of international investors in Russia, he said.