[caption id="attachment_63442" align="alignleft" width="239"] Abdul Matlub Ahmed [/caption]ST. PETERSBURG — Bangladesh plans to enhance the trade and economic cooperation with Russia in the areas of energy, construction and high technologies, President of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industries (FBCCI) Abdul Matlub Ahmed told TASS on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF-2016) on Saturday. "As for the trade and economic cooperation this is energy in the first place. We already have an agreement on construction of a power plant. We're also seeking for ways to cooperate in the field of infrastructure, mainly the construction of high-speed highways. We also need high technologies in the field of machinery and textile industry," he said. According to the official, the country "is seeking cooperation with Russia, not Europe or the United States." Meanwhile, within the framework of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF 2016) 332 formal agreement for around 1 trillion rubles ($15.44 billion) were signed, Adviser to the Russian President, Deputy Chairman of the Organizing Committee - Executive Secretary, Anton Kobyakov said on Friday at a press conference of the results of the forum. "The total number of formal agreements that have been signed on June 16-18 - 332 formal agreements, that we can counts and that are not commercial classified information, for around 1 trillion rubles ($15.44 billion). This includes only officially registered agreements," Kobyakov said. More than 12,000 people from 130 countries participated in the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum in 2016. 1,300 companies, including 880 represented by executives, participated in the forum. According to Kobyakov, the most important result of the SPIEF 2016 is that "it reaffirmed its status as a large-scale, reputable and globally popular platform for open and direct discussions with representatives of the official authorities, business, academic and expert circles of different countries on timely issues of the world economy and finance." "The growing number of the forum's participants from year to year means that Russia always was and remains the most important center for attracting business contacts, business community from all over the world," he added. The XXth St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF 2016) was held on June 16-18 at the new venue in Shushary. The key topics of discussion are the new economic reality and the search for new sources of growth. Every year more than 10,000 participants come to SPIEF from more than 70 countries. 205 open agreements were signed at SPIEF 2015 for a total amount of 293.4 billion rubles ($4.52 billion).
