SOCHI, Russia, Oct. 23 (Xinhua) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday called on Russian and Africa to double bilateral trade to over 40 billion U.S. dollars in the next four to five years.
Putin said that the Russian-African trade more than doubled in the last five years to exceed 20 billion dollars, which he thought was "too little," while speaking at the plenary session of the first Russia-Africa Economic Forum here.
"I believe that it is within our power to at least double the volume of trade in the next four to five years," said Putin during his meeting with state leaders, other senior officials and business people from Russia and Africa.
Russia will do its utmost to link African free trade zones with the Eurasian Economic Union through expanding trade missions and providing support to businesses, Putin said.
"The development of close business ties meets our common interests, contributes to the sustainable growth of all our states, helps to improve the quality of people's lives and solves numerous social problems," he said.
