Moscow Times 29 April 2013
Transparency in business procedures, cheaper domestic travel and road signs in English would bring more tourists and foreign investors to Russia, Italian Ambassador Antonio Zanardi Landi said on Friday.
While large investments become successful and receive government support and recognition, small businesses often go unnoticed and become lost in the idiosyncrasies of local government’s rules and bylaws, in his view.
“It is not easy for a foreigner to start a small business here. If you can’t create, for example, 5,000 jobs in the region, you are perceived as an unimportant factor,” Landi said in an interview.
“Transparency and simplification of procedures would go a long way in helping small investors in regional Russia. It would also make it easier for small exporters to access the Russian market,” he added.
Last year, the Italian Embassy published a guide for Italian investors in the Russian Federation, which is available on their website.
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