Mid-Atlantic – Russia Business
Council Organizes Visit by the Russian Mayors’ Delegation
to New York and Philadelphia
Philadelphia, PA - The Mid-Atlantic – Russia Business
Council (MARBC) is pleased to announce that it hosted a
delegation consisting of more than thirty local government
officials and businessmen, including mayors and heads of
administration representing more than 10 cities and regions
from across Russia in New York and Philadelphia on July
11-12, 2006. The delegation came to the United States only
days before the G8 Summit would be held for the first time
in Russia and its visit aimed to foster political, cultural
and commercial interactions between the United States and
Russia. After their visit to Philadelphia, members of the
delegation traveled to Washington, D.C. to attend the 50th
Annual Sister Cities International Conference.
While in Philadelphia, MARBC organized a welcoming reception
for the delegation and a roundtable discussion of regional
cooperation and sustainable development issues in the Mayor’s
Reception Room at Philadelphia City Hall. The program for
the event was very intensive, including welcoming remarks,
keynote presentations and speeches by both Americans and
Russians. As part of the welcoming reception and roundtable
discussion, delegation members met with officials from the
City of Philadelphia, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and
the State of Delaware. After welcoming remarks, Lorie Jones,
the Mayor’s Secretary for External Affairs, and Mjenzi
Traylor, First Deputy Director of Commerce of Philadelphia,
presented members of the Russian delegation with miniature
Liberty Bells, symbolizing Philadelphia’s vital role
in America’s quest for independence. The keynote speech
by the Russian delegation was made by Sergey Paramonov,
Executive Vice-President of the Twin Cities International
Association. After his speech, Mr. Paramonov presented medals
to representatives of the City of Philadelphia and the Commonwealth
of Pennsylvania. American keynote speakers included Paul
Smith, Former Deputy Chief of Mission, U.S. Embassy in Moscow
and Peter O’Neill, Executive Director, Office of International
Trade Development for the Pennsylvania Department of Community
& Economic Development. Ted Boimov, who ten years ago
served as the first Executive Director of the Russian Office
of the National Governors’ Association, addressed
government issues. Chris Cap, Deputy Executive Vice President,
Pennsylvania State Association of Boroughs, attended the
event accompanied by several Pennsylvania mayors and members
of his organization and spoke about issues facing Pennsylvania
municipalities. Richard Bendis, the former President and
CEO of Innovation Philadelphia and current President and
CEO of True Product ID, discussed economic development issues.
Other speakers included representatives from organizations
and government agencies specializing in economic and trade
development, US government agencies and businesses in Mid-Atlantic
region. In addition, on July 12, MARBC hosted a special
lunch for the delegation at the Pyramid Club, where delegation
members enjoyed breathtaking views of Philadelphia and were
welcomed by John Gallagher, Chairman of the United States
Industry Coalition, and a dinner meeting at the historic
City Tavern Restaurant in Old City Philadelphia.
Members of the delegation also visited the Franklin and
Dashkova exhibit being held at the Museum of the American
Philosophical Society. The exhibit is part of the celebration
of the 300th anniversary of the birth of Benjamin Franklin,
the first American member of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
It presents Franklin’s life in a novel fashion, placing
him alongside Ekaterina Dashkova, a Russian intellectual
counterpart who Franklin nominated to be the first female
and the first Russian member of the American Philosophical
Society. The interactions between Franklin and Dashkova
represent an early example of the long history of Russian-American
cooperation.
For further details about the Russian Mayors’ Delegation’s
visit, please contact Val Kogan, Mid-Atlantic-Russia Business
Council, by phone: (215) 708-2628, email: val@ma-rbc.org,
or visit the MARBC website at: http://www.ma-rbc.org
About the Mid-Atlantic - Russia Business Council. Since
1994, MARBC has worked to foster business relations between
Russia and the Newly Independent States (NIS), and the U.S.
Mid-Atlantic Region, while cultivating mutual appreciation
of political, economic, cultural, and educational interests.
Throughout the past eleven years, the goal of MARBC has
been to enable companies based in the U.S. Mid-Atlantic
Region to enhance their positions in Russia and the NIS,
and to attract Russian businesses to the U.S. Mid-Atlantic
Region.
The
Welcoming Reception and Roundtable Discussion
with the Russian Mayors’ Delegation
July 12, 2006, 1:00-3:30 pm
Mayor’s
Reception Room at Philadelphia City Hall
Broad and Market Streets, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Speakers include:
Welcoming:
• Mjenzi Traylor, First Deputy Director
of Commerce, City of Philadelphia
• Loree Jones, Secretary of External
Affairs for the Mayors Office, City of Philadelphia
• Peter O’Neill, Executive
Director, Center for Trade Development, Pennsylvania Department
of Community & Economic Development
• Nancy Gilboy, President & CEO,
International Visitors Council of Philadelphia
• George Burrell, President and CEO,
Innovation Philadelphia
• Rebecca Faber, Executive Director,
World Trade Center Delaware
• Val Kogan, President, Mid-Atlantic
- Russia Business Council
Keynote:
• Paul Smith, Deputy Chief of Mission,
U.S. Embassy in Moscow (Retired)
• Peter O’Neill, Executive
Director, Center for Trade Development, Pennsylvania Department
of Community & Economic Development
Speakers:
• Richard Bendis, President and CEO,
True Product ID
• Gary Jastrzab, Director of Strategic
Planning for the City Planning Commission
• Ted Boimov, Former Executive Director,
Russian Office, National Governors' Association
• Chris Cap, Deputy Executive Vice
President, Pennsylvania State Association of Boroughs
• John Gallagher, Chairman, United
States Industry Coalition
• Brian Sant Angelo, Export-Import
Bank of the United States
• Yury Makushin, Deputy Head of Representative
office of Vnesheconombank in the USA
• Larissa Ostrovsky, Director &
Country Manager, Russia & the CIS, Wachovia
• Philip de Leon, Deputy Director,
BISNIS, International Trade Administration, U.S. Department
of Commerce
• Benjamin Rifkin, Professor of Russian
and Vice Dean for Undergraduate Affairs, Temple University
• Vladimir Kestelman, President,
KVN
• Rebecca Davis, President, Rebecca
Davis Dance Company
Speakers from Russia:
• Sergey Paramonov, Executive Vice-President
of the Twin Cities International Association
• Mayors representing several Russian regions
Closing:
• Val Kogan, President, Mid-Atlantic
- Russia Business Council
Russian Mayors’
Delegation Visit to the United States
Program on July 11-12, 2006
in New York, New York and in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
July 11, 2006 New York City - Philadelphia
9:00 am
Meeting with a representative from the Mid-Atlantic –
Russia Business Council
Sightseeing excursion in New York
Meeting with the Permanent Mission of Russia to the United
Nations in New York
6:00 pm
Delegation travels to Philadelphia
9:00 pm
MARBC dinner meeting in Philadelphia
July 12, 2006 Philadelphia
8:30 am
Breakfast at the Union League
Meeting with the President of the Mid-Atlantic – Russia
Business Council
9:00 am
Excursion in Philadelphia
11:30 am - 12:30 pm
Lunch at the Pyramid Club with the Chairman of the United
States Industry Coalition
1:00 - 3:30 pm
Welcoming reception at Philadelphia City Hall
Roundtable discussion with officials from the City of Philadelphia
and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, representatives from
businesses and educational establishments, and members of
the Russian delegation
3:30 - 4:30 pm
Tour of Philadelphia City Hall
5:00 - 6:00 pm
Visit to the “Princess and the Patriot” exhibit
dedicated to Benjamin Franklin, the first American member
of the Russian Academy of Sciences, and to Ekaterina Dashkova,
a Russian Princess who became the first female and first
Russian member of the American Philosophical Society, being
held at the Museum of the American Philosophical Society
6:00 - 8:00 pm
Closing MARBC dinner meeting at the City Tavern Restaurant
in Philadelphia
8:00 pm
Delegation travels to Washington, DC
