[Deb Palmieri on Russia Table of Contents] The following article was published in the Russian Commerce News, May-June 2000. The Russian Commerce News is the official publication of The Russian-American Chamber of Commerce®. |
What can Americans do to help Russia? As an alternative to focusing on telling Russians what they need to do and how they need to do it, I suggest that now is a good time for us to focus on what we can do to improve and enhance bilateral economic cooperation through our own initiatives.
1. Support Russian accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) in a specific and concrete way, so that Russia will be granted PNTR in a timely manner without unnecessary political or bureaucratic delays.
2. Ease visa problems for Russian employees and business partners. Provide more staffing at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow and streamlined procedures to eliminate delays. Lengthy and redundant application procedures and delays constitute a major trade barrier and impede the free flow of legitimate business personnel between both countries.
3. Evaluate export control legislation that creates barriers for U.S. companies, and change or eliminate that legislation which creates unnecessary barriers. And we shouldn't link trading issues to a whole host of political issues and grievances. It impedes economic progress and undermines U.S. competitive ability.
4. Implement a new visa program for foreigners with high-tech skills, especially Russian specialists, so that high-tech companies have access to workers with technical skills they need.
5. Provide stronger government incentives to U.S. companies to offset risks to investments in Russia, such as tax credits and more risk backing through agencies such as OPIC.
6. Encourage an attitude of change towards Russia in our government and defense establishment. Replace old attitudes of suspicion, confrontation, mistrust and cynicism with new attitude of understanding, open-mindedness, cooperation and goodwill. A genuine attitude change of official American thinking towards Russia is the essential foundation for strong long-term economic cooperation.
7. Increase grant and seed money through government agencies to fund more proposals that foster the development of entrepreneurship in Russia. Help transmit the wealth of learning of our small businesses to Russian small businesses through practical exchange programs.
8. Understand that economic cooperation must replace military competition as the preferred cornerstone of the U.S.-Russian relationship in the 21st century.
9. Bring more young Russians to the U.S. to study, learn practical business skills and return home to implement them. Fund universities directly to support scholarships for Russian students to U.S. institutions.
10. Think positive! Replace pessimism with optimism about the future of U.S.-Russian relations. Believe that we can work together. The young post Cold-War generation holds the key to crafting new and positive approaches and methodologies to peaceful coexistence for the next hundred years. Only in this type of environment can economic interchange flourish.r
Deborah Anne Palmieri
Russian Commerce News, May-June 2000
Copyright 2001 The Russian-American Chamber of Commerce®