Russia and Bahrain intend to develop cooperation in all spheres - Lavrov

SOCHI, February 8 /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin and King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa of Bahrain said on Monday that the two countries would develop cooperation in all spheres, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Monday. "The meeting was warm and friendly. It passed in the atmosphere of trust," Lavrov said adding that the conversation dwelt on all areas of bilateral cooperation. "The leaders of Russia and Bahrain intend to develop cooperation in all spheres. The past few years have been marked by an intensive political dialogue. There is live interest in establishing inter-parliamentary contacts. The sides have shown increased attention to developing trade and economic cooperation," the Russian foreign minister went on to say. "The development of trade and economic ties in areas like energy and infrastructure will undoubtedly contribute to the creation of an inter-governmental commission for trade and economic cooperation," Lavrov said adding that an agreement in principle had been reach, and the two countries were finalizing relevant documents. According to Lavrov, the business circles are not waiting for any formal decision. "Investment cooperation has been most intensive. Bahrain’s sovereign wealth fund has invested 250 million U.S. dollars in the Russian Direct Investment Fund," Lavrov said. He said that up to 2 projects worth billions of rubles had either got under way or would soon be launched. "Both sides are showing live interest in gas cooperation. [Russian gas monopoly] Gazprom and its Bahraini partners are holding meaningful discussions of concrete projects," the Russian foreign minister went on to say. Lavrov also mentioned the work of the Russian-Bahraini Business Council. He added that Russian and Bahraini businessmen regularly met each other - in Bahrain and in Russia. "Military-technological cooperation assumed new measurements this year. An inter-governmental commission, which has a package of concrete proposals representing reciprocal interests, has been set up," the Russian foreign minister said. "We hope we will also be able to strike fruitful military contacts. We have invited representatives of the Bahraini Armed Forces to our games called Air Darts and Tank biathlon," Lavrov said. Russia and Bahrain have pledged to join actions in the election of the FIFA president. According to Lavrov, the King of Bahrain has actively supported the idea of holding the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. Read more