Russian-made products in various industries are generally well received in the Middle East and Asian markets. The Persian Gulf markets, mainly Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, are promising for the supply of Russian agricultural and food products, explained Alexey Solodov, vice president of the Russian Export Center (REC, part of VEB.RF) for development. of Russian companies in the Middle East and Southeast Asia.
“Some products have long been known and popular in these regions, especially food products. We have permanent demonstration and tasting pavilions of the agricultural sector in China, Vietnam, Egypt, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia,” he noted.
In his words, since 2022 Russian companies are actively exploring new horizons, focusing on the Middle East and Asian markets. These regions, known for their high demand for a variety of goods and services, offer promising opportunities for Russian companies to expand and strengthen international trade ties.
REC actively works to promote Russian products abroad through online channels, including by developing a network of domestic stores under the Made in Russia brand.
“Today, 36 such stores have already been opened in key foreign markets. These online supermarkets offer a wide range of products from more than 800 Russian companies and expansion plans continue to be implemented. We focus on the markets of China and other countries in Southeast Asia and the Middle East,” added the expert.
As an example of such success, he cited the appearance of Uncle Vanya brand products in the largest supermarket chain in the United Arab Emirates. Pickled cucumbers, tomatoes, pumpkin and eggplant caviar and lecho are now available on store shelves in Dubai. Another success story is Russian meat products, which are not only presented in retail and online stores in the UAE, but are also in demand in local restaurants. In Turkey, last year it was possible to increase the number of Russian companies represented in local markets from two to ten.
REC continues to expand its geography, establishing business contacts through a foreign network of representative offices in 13 countries and plans to open new representative offices in five priority countries, including Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Indonesia and Thailand. This opens up new opportunities for Russian companies seeking to enter the markets of Southeast Asia, the Middle East and other regions.
“We also plan to continue working with friendly countries, participate in exhibitions and organize trade missions. In particular, we will continue to visit Algeria and Oman, where we will carry out trade missions,” he said.
Chinese consumers are very interested in Russian brands, because for them everything manufactured in our country meets the necessary quality standards, says Sergei, a jewelry production employee.
“We are currently opening three stores in Shanghai. The Chinese want to use Russian gold because they want to buy something exclusive that is not widely available,” he says.
As mentioned more than once, previously the Russian economy was largely closed to the European market with the export of cheap Russian natural resources, the purchase of European products with the proceeds and, as a result, there was no need to develop its economy. internal. industry. The associate professor of the Department of Economic Theory of the Russian University of Economics spoke about this. GV Plekhanova Ekaterina Novikova.
“Companies like Sokolov and LEtoile represent a consumer market and the number of these companies on foreign markets will only grow, but separately I would like to highlight the important orders from domestic industrial giants, such as Rosatom, MTS, oil companies and metallurgical companies in Africa, India, China”, he concluded.
The expert clarified that all this has a positive impact on the growth of the Russian economy in the very near future and, therefore, on the expansion of Russia’s participation in the entire world economy.
