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The U.S. Consul General gives high appreciation to the regional cooperation

U.S. Consul General in St. Petersburg Bruce I. Turner was on an official visit to Murmansk last week.

Bruce I.Turner is impressed by the Barents cooperation success on the regional level. He stresses the importance of people-to-people cooperation and would like to have the same for Russia and the US.

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“The cross-border cooperation is a very positive thing”, - says Bruce I.Turner, the consul general of the United States of America during his official visit to Murmansk.

Earlier this week the U.S. Consul General in Saint Petersburg paid an official visit to Murmansk to get a better understanding of the region, its role in the development of North-West Russia and the things happening here.

Bruce I.Turner was amazed by the Barents cooperation success on the regional level, he said when visiting the Murmansk office of the Norwegian Barents Secretariat. He stressed the importance of people-to-people cooperation and would like to have the same for Russia and the US.

“We should do everything to strengthen the trade relations between our countries. Politically our relationships are not that easy, and the good contacts between people and businesses would help to keep up the balance, which is very important”.

Mr.Turner considers cross-border cooperation as a very positive thing. In the country with centrally-developed economy it is good to diversify and give more freedom.

During his visit to the Regional Administration the high ranking diplomat discussed opportunities for cooperation between the US and Murmansk Oblast. It is quite challenging to attract investors to the region located this far, yet it is also a matter of spreading the word, “the US business has a poor knowledge about the Region, there should be more promotion of the region to attract investors”.

At the same time the general consul sees many possibilities for interaction. The agriculture is a painful issue for Russia, and this is the field where Americans are very strong and could step in. There are also great possibilities in IT, - “Russian are savvy and very good in IT”.