Putin for private sector role in boosting trade to $80 billion by 2015

Russian President Vladimir Putin says bilateral trade should touch $80 billion by 2015, but says it is for corporate houses to address these issues.

Russia wants an expansion of business with India in a variety of new areas including hi-tech, tele-communication and shipbuilding.

He said the trade between the two countries was "still very low" at a level of $3 billion whereas against China alone it was $20 billion last year with plans to raise it to $60 billion. According to the Russian president by 2010, the two countries can achieve around $10 billion worth of turnover, which double it by 2015. "This is quite a realistic task to be achieved," he said in an interview to a news agency.

President Putin, accompanied by a strong business delegation, is on a two-day visit.

He said the problem with both the countries was the legacy of the archaic economy and too much of bureaucracy and felt cutting red tape and providing initiative to the private sector in both countries could speed up the bilateral trade.

He mooted direct contacts between the private sectors in the two countries with support from their government and suggested the two countries could rely on the use of the rupee debt of India before Russia in order to expand those investments

He also disclosed that the two countries had serious plans for cooperating in high-tech, space research, aviation, construction of ships, energy, including nuclear energy. On Russian investment in India, he said many Russian companies have a stake in investing in and telecom was an area of interest to Russian companies were interested. This is one of the issues on the agenda during the visit," he said.

Commenting on India wanting a larger opportunity in Russia''s oil gas project in Sakhalin III, he said, what sets Russia apart from the OPEC countries was that the energy sector was not in government sector.

The bulk of the sector is in the private sector, he emphasized saying all leading oil and gas companies were working in Russian territory of the Russian Federation including Indian "partners."

On cooperation between Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRIC) and RIC countries, Putin said these abbreviations were not invented in these countries but by international investments, which computed that by 2050, their economies would have a major impact on the world economy.