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U.S. Commerce Secretary to discuss Russian WTO bid in Moscow

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A high-ranking U.S. commerce official, on a visit to Moscow starting Monday, will discuss bilateral trade issues and Russia's bid to join the World Trade Organization (WTO), the American Embassy said Monday.
MOSCOW, April 2 (RIA Novosti) - A high-ranking U.S. commerce official, on a visit to Moscow starting Monday, will discuss bilateral trade issues and Russia's bid to join the World Trade Organization (WTO), the American Embassy said Monday.

U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez will be in Moscow April 2-4 and will meet with his counterpart, Economic Development and Trade Minister German Gref.

Gutierrez will also meet with American businessmen working in Russia, will deliver a major speech on bilateral trade relations at a business conference sponsored by the American Chamber of Commerce and will visit with Russian university students from Moscow's Higher School of Economics.

"Russia is an important global market. U.S. companies are finding more opportunities in Russia's growing economy and we are seeing Russian firms capitalizing on the openness of the U.S. market," Gutierrez said.

However, he stressed that Russia still needed to do more to improve its business climate and promote its economic growth by attracting greater investment, removing trade barriers and protecting innovation.

Russian-American trade has grown dramatically in recent years, with U.S. exports to Russia growing at an average of 20 percent annually for the past three years and reaching $4.7 billion in 2006. Foreign direct investment by American companies in Russia is now estimated at $11 billion, or nearly twice as much as three years ago.

Gutierrez will continue on to Ukraine April 4-5, where he will meet with senior government officials, including Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych, First Deputy Prime Minister Mykola Azarov and Economics Minister Anatoliy Kinakh.

Discussions there will also concentrate on Ukraine's investment climate, reforms needed to make the country more business friendly and the completion of the WTO accession process.

He will be the first U.S. Commerce Secretary to visit Ukraine since the country gained independence in 1991.

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