Innovation Working Group of the U.S.-Russia Bilateral Presidential Commission Holds its Second Meeting in Moscow

On October 30, the Innovation Working Group of the U.S.-Russia Bilateral Presidential Commission held its second meeting at the "Hypercube" in Moscow, the first completed building of the Russian government's flagship innovation project, Skolkovo. U.S. Co-Chair Undersecretary for Economic Growth, the Environment and Energy Robert Hormats said he was enthusiastic about U.S.-Russia collaboration under this Working Group and noted that this partnership on innovation would strengthen U.S.-Russian relations. He stressed the importance of creating an appropriate ecosystem for innovation that includes mentoring and constant and informal communication in addition to financing. He noted that partnership between U.S. and Russian innovators will enrich the work of both and would positively contribute to innovation in the world. Russian Co-Chair Deputy Prime Minister Vladislav Surkov expressed optimism for the work of this group and stressed the value of the Innovation Working Group's collaborative work plan in moving this initiative forward. The Co-Chairs listened to proposals for future collaboration in the areas of U.S. and Russian university partnerships and exchanges, linkages between U.S. and Russian start-ups, and others. In addition, the Co-Chairs met in a closed session on the margins of the meeting to discuss their vision for the work the Innovation Working Group.

At the end of the day, the State Department's Special Representative for Commercial and Business Affairs Lorraine Hariton and Russia's Deputy Minister of Economic Development Oleg Fomichev, the co-coordinators for the Innovation Working Group, signed a joint work plan. The plan details concrete steps to further develop ongoing cooperation in three main areas: the legal framework for innovation, cooperation on innovation centers and regional innovation clusters, and the development of commercialization chains.