Lagos (Lagos State) – The Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) on Tuesday launched an e-commerce platform to foster closer cooperation between Nigerian entrepreneurs and their Russian counterparts
Mrs Nike Akande, President of LCCI, said at the launch tagged: RuNiTrade, in Lagos that the it would boost trade between the countries.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), reports that RuNiTrade platform is a collaboration between the chamber and Trail Trans Logistics Group of Companies in Russia.
RuNiTrade is designed for Nigerian and Russian business communities to buy and sell their products to each other.
Akande said, “the Nigerian and Russian economies have similarities in some ways. We are both oil producing countries, also rich in natural gas.
“But the Russian economy is of course a much bigger economy and more advanced technologically.
“With the development in the oil and gas sector, the need to diversify our economies cannot be more urgent than now. I believe that increased trade will enhance economic diversification.
“We can benefit a lot from Russian technology in many fields. There are also tremendous opportunities for cooperation and investment relations in infrastructure development, especially power and engineering.”
She stressed that there was great value in deploying technology to promote trade because e-commerce had gained wide acceptance in our retail trade sector.
She said Nigeria had a lot to offer in business and economic relations because its economy offered the largest market on the African continent.
“Our GDP of over $500 billion is the largest in the continent. We are richly endowed in natural resources; our macroeconomic fundamentals are still strong despite the current global issues with commodity prices.
“We have one of the most enterprising people in the world and our democracy is stable”, Akande said.
Mr Umem Sampson, Managing Director, Trail Trans Logistics said the platform was designed to deepen the quantum of direct trade between both countries.
He said most of the goods from Russia to Nigeria were from intermediary countries thereby making the volume of trade between both countries low at about 300 million dollars.
“The major benefit of this platform is that companies in both countries can directly communicate, negotiate and reach a business deal using this e-commerce platform.
“It will also help to establish good perception, harmony as well as trust between Russian and Nigerian businesses.
“RuNiTrade platform is fast, secure and efficient as a gateway for export in a one window operation”, Samson said.
Mr Vladmir Zubov, President, Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Pskov, Russia, said the platform was a necessary tool for business community in Russia and other developing countries.
“This project gives participants the opportunity to promote new products and the collaboration will be a bold step for trade development, investment and international relationships between our countries”, Zubov said. (NAN)
