Russia's President Dmitry Medvedev (3rd R) and German Chancellor Angela Merkel (3rd L) arrive for session of the Russian-German forum "St. Petersburg Dialogue" in Urals city, Yekaterinburg, July 15, 2010. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)
MOSCOW, July 15 (Xinhua) -- Russia and Germany concluded their 12th interstate consultations Thursday at the Urals city of Yekaterinburg, hailing closer ties and business-to-business cooperation.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and German Chancellor Angela Merkel discussed a broad range of issues during the consultations, including foreign policy, economy, culture, technology and innovation.
Both sides vowed to practically advance bilateral cooperation in all sectors, with governments, banks and high-tech enterprises from both countries inking cooperative agreements and memoranda of understanding.
At the joint press conference, both Medvedev and Merkel stressed the importance for the two countries of developing their strategic partnership.
Medvedev was positive about the meeting, saying cooperation would "develop in all directions."
He also welcomed German enterprises' participation in the hi-tech hub Skolkovo outside Moscow.
"We hope German businesses' role will be quite active in the large projects to be implemented in Skolkovo," said Medvedev, adding that Moscow had reached an agreement with Brussels on the implementation of a Partnership for Modernization initiative.
Editor: Fang Yang
