The Russian Export Centre is set to to open offices in 17 countries, including Egypt, its director Andrey Slepnev said in 2019 . The locations the new offices will be hosted include are South Africa, India, China, Singapore, Iran, Turkey, the UAE, Italy, France and Finland. The goal is to boost Russian exports to these markets, Slepnev said in remarks to Egypt's MENA state news agency before leaving Egypt late Wednesday. Slepnev hailed the development of an economic zone near the Suez Canal, saying the project to turn the area into an international industrial and logistics hub will save time and the cost of cargo transportation across the world. The Russian government is investing $190 million in the first phase of a planned Russian industrial zone in the Suez Canal Zone, he said. Russian's total investments in the zone are expected to reach $7 billion, Slepnev quoted Russian Industry and Trade Minister Denis Manturov as saying. Slepnev said a Russian business delegation that visited Egypt this week to attend Russian-African cooperation talks aimed to open direct channels of communication between Russian exporters and potential African partners with the aim of boosting Russian exports to these markets.
