President of the Russian Federation, His Excellency Vladimir Putin has congratulated His Excellency President Dr. Julius Maada Bio on his re-election as President of Sierra Leone.
President Putin said: “Your Excellency Mr Bio, please accept my sincere congratulations on the occasion of your re-election to the post of President. Traditionally, the relations between the Russian Federation and the Republic of Sierra Leone are of friendly nature. I hope that your activity of Head of State will further contribute to the development of bilateral cooperation for the benefit of our peoples. I wish You success as well as good health and well-being”.
President Bio was one of the African Heads of States and Governments invited to the Russia-Africa Economic Forum in Sochi, in the Russian Federation.
The Forum was an important and much-anticipated milestone in laying foundations for the promotion and enhancement of trade and economic relations among the economies across the African continent and enabling the diversification and deepening of economic collaboration between Russia and Africa.
At the Forum, President Putin said that economic issues were integral and an actual priority of Russia’s relations with the African countries. He said that developing close business ties would serve common interests, contribute to the sustainable growth of all countries, help to improve quality of life and solve numerous social problems.
He noted that a lot of efforts went into the preparations of the Forum saying that multiple events on specific fields of Russian-African cooperation had been held over the past year. He also reiterated that African countries were becoming increasingly attractive for Russian businesses largely due to the fact that Africa was becoming a global economic growth centre.
“Integration processes unfolding in Africa provide additional opportunities for cooperation. We welcome the creation of the African Continental Free Trade Area as part of the African Union and are willing to work with this new entity.
“We support establishing close working contacts between the EU Commission and the Eurasian Economic Commission. As an active participant in the EAEU, Russia will do its best to facilitate the convergence of trade regimes in the African Free Trade Area and the EAEU common market”.
