The Mid-Atlantic-Russia Business Council Hosts
the Russian Agricultural Delegation

The Mid-Atlantic – Russia Business Council (MARBC) is pleased to announce that it will be hosting an Agroindustrial Delegation from Russia to the Mid-Atlantic region from July 9-12, 2007.  Official Russian representatives from the agroindustrial sector, including the food & food processing industry, will participate in the 53^rd Fancy Food Show in New York on July 8-10, 2007.  The Fancy Food Show, with more than a thousand exhibitors from around the world presenting more than 100,000 specialty foods to discover and sample, is one of the largest events in the food industry. A number of international pavilions will present new specialty food from all over the world. Recent Fancy Food Shows have attracted over 30,000 attendees from specialty food, wine, gift and department stores, supermarkets, restaurants, mail-order and other related businesses. Following the Fancy Food Show on July 9^th, the Russian delegation will participate at the reception in the Consulate General of the Russian Federation in New York.

     On July 10^th, MARBC will bring the Russian Agroindustrial Delegation to Harrisburg, PA, where the delegation will meet with officials from the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. While in Harrisburg, the delegation will also enjoy a ferry ride organized by Dauphin County Office of Community & Economic Development on “The Pride of the Susquehanna” Riverboat departing at 3:00pm. During the ride, the delegation will meet with other government officials and business executives and discuss the most important issues regarding Russian-American agricultural collaboration.

      Due to the widespread popularity of Russian national alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks, MARBC will be organizing a tasting of Russian beverages as part of the Russian Agroindustrial Delegation ferry ride. Some of the beverages to be presented have never before been sampled in the United States.

      The official welcoming ceremony at Philadelphia City Hall organized by MARBC will be held on July 11^th at 10:00am. During the ceremony, the Russia delegation will meet with federal, Mid-Atlantic state, and Philadelphia city officials, as well as representatives from international trade and agricultural associations and companies in the Mid-Atlantic States.  During the final day of the delegation’s visit, July 12^th, the delegation will participate in meetings in Washington D.C.

       For further details about the Russian Agroindustrial Delegation, please contact Val Kogan, Mid-Atlantic-Russia Business Council, by phone: (484) 467-7444, email: val@ma-rbc.org, or visit the MARBC website at: http://www.ma-rbc.org. If you are interested in attending a ferry ride event in Harrisburg or welcoming ceremony at Philadelphia City Hall, please submit your confirmation to: rsvp@ma-rbc.org and indicate the event you would like to participate in.

 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 thirteen 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.