Five Days in Moscow - from the President of The Russian-American Chamber of Commerce®

[Deb Palmieri on Russia Table of Contents]

The following article was published in the Russian Commerce News, November-December 1997. The Russian Commerce News is the official publication of The Russian-American Chamber of Commerce®.

Five Days in Moscow

Danielle Steel may have thought that Five Days in Paris was great, but my recent five days in Moscow was even better. It always amazes me how you think you know Russia, but you really don't. You think, for example, that you understand the enormous amount of change presently underway in all of its scope and complexity. But each day, and with every visit, you are left in awe as to how monumental and far reaching it really is. Such was the case with me recently. I walked away from Russia with even more respect for the Russians, and the foreign investment community, than I had before.

The intensity of people in their daily work is incredible. The focused power of group effort to achieve a common goal is evident. The best and most brilliant minds, Russians and foreigners, are working together to fervently achieve a monumental challenge - modernize Russia, produce win-win outcomes for both sides. The goodwill, the raw brain-power, the intensity of the task, is breathtaking. And it really warms the soul.

It struck me that independently, from both Russians and Americans, I heard the same refrain. "Let's find intelligent approaches, smart ways, new methods to carry us forward. Let's do things differently to solve problems and overcome the obstacles created by the old society and old ways of doing things."

What people are emphasizing and what they are doing in fact, at least the most innovative (therefore the most successful), is engaging in imaginative thinking. They are replacing obsolete models with new, energetic models of social, political and economic logic. They are engaging in futuristic advanced thinking. They are relying on forward-looking scenario building to accomplish all sorts of tasks: make investment projects work; construct new buildings and renovate the old; take apart enterprises and rebuild them from the ground-up; build advanced telecommunications and rocket systems and on and on. They are optimistic and failure is not an option that has crossed any of their minds.

Under such circumstances, what can we say about Russia in 1998? One can only believe it will be a good year with positive developments bound to occur - advances in PSA and tax legislation; an ability to control weaknesses in the economy; higher employment levels and new job creation; greater sensitivity on the part of the Duma to create win-win policies stimulating foreign investment and Russia's continued integration into global economic institutions, such as membership into WTO.

Remember, how you view daily events in Russia depends fundamentally on whether you see the glass half-empty or half-full. See it half-full, and you will more fully and accurately appreciate the amazing transformation you see before you now, in 1998 and beyond.

Deborah Anne Palmieri
Russian Commerce News, November-December 1997