AMMAN - Over 60 companies and 150 businesspeople from Russia are expected to take part in the 10th annual Russian Industrial Exhibition, slated to start in Amman on March 7, 2011, organisers announced Sunday. At the three-day event, organised by the Jordan Chamber of Commerce (JCC) and the Russian company Zarubezh Expo in cooperation with Russian-Jordanian Business Council, industrial firms working in the sectors of agriculture, food industry, medicine and healthcare, information and communications technology, petroleum, gas and automobiles will have the opportunity to showcase their products and services.

JCC Deputy Chairman Issa Murad said in a press conference yesterday that trade volume between Jordan and Russia, which reached $400 million in 2009, increased significantly during the first seven months of 2010, indicating that the Kingdom’s imports from Russia reached $350 million during the first seven months of this year.

“We hope to see the participation of the Jordanian industrial sector in this year’s exhibition in order to promote local products in Russia and to achieve a trade balance between both countries,” Murad said.

Holding the event for the 10th consecutive year shows that the exhibition has achieved successful outcome over the past years, he added, indicating that the chamber of commerce will be working to attract Russian investors to take part in the megaprojects Jordan plans to implement in vital sectors, including energy and infrastructure.

David Vartanov, chairman of the organising committee, highlighted the importance of the exhibition in showcasing Russian industries, saying that Russia has become an innovative country in the technology sector.

Economists across the world agree that Russia has completely recovered from the global economic crisis and Jordan is a strategic gate to other regional markets, particularly Iraq, he noted.

According to Vartanov, around 150 Russian businesspeople are expected to participate in the event, stating that over the past years more than 2,000 businesspeople from Russia visited the exhibition in order to enter Jordanian and regional markets.