Vince Cable Takes British Firms To Russia On Trade Mission | HuffPost

To Russia With Cable

Asa Bennett— The Huffington Post UK

Vince Cable of the Liberal Democratic party leaves 10 Downing Street Wednesday, May, 12 2010. Britain's new Prime Minister David Cameron has appointed more of his new political partners to key Cabinet posts _ handing his coalition Liberal Democrat colleague Vince Cable a key business brief. Cable's appointment may spark nervousness in the financial sector. An ex-economist for Royal Dutch Shell, Cable is a fierce critic of banking practices and has demanded action to spur lending. (AP Photo/Al

AP

Vince Cable has taken 30 British businesses to Russia in a government bid to boost trade links between the two countries.

The Business Secretary is hoping to develop economic links between the two countries and get more British firms exporting to Russia.

Between 2009 and 2012, exports of goods and services to Russia grew by over 75% from £4.3 billion to £7.6 billion.

The visit is part of the biggest ever Export Week, with 5,000 businesses expected to take part in events across the country.

The Government is aiming to raise the number of UK firms that export from a fifth to a quarter.

Cable said: "British small and medium sized businesses (SMEs) are the lifeblood of our economy. Many are doing incredible things and selling their services and products abroad, but too many do not realise their global potential.

"I am in Russia this week launching the biggest ever drive to encourage SMEs to export. This campaign will help us reach the many businesses across the country that are ready to export and grow but have yet to take the plunge.

"This can be a big step for many businesses and the Government's expert international trade advisers will guide companies every step of the way, with practical advice and support to find international customers."

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Is Vladimir Putin the ultimate man?(02 of20)

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Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin seen riding a horse while traveling in the mountains of the Siberian Tyva region (also referred to as Tuva), Russia, during his short vacation. Putin has become alternately notorious and beloved for an array of adventurous stunts, including posing with a tiger cub and riding a horse bare-chested. (AP Photo/RIA Novosti, Alexei Druzhinin, POOL, File) (credit:AP)

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Is Vladimir Putin the ultimate man?(12 of20)

then Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin carries a hunting rifle during his trip in Ubsunur Hollow in the Siberian Tyva region (also referred to as Tuva), on the border with Mongolia, Russia. Putin has become alternately notorious and beloved for an array of adventurous stunts, including posing with a tiger cub and riding a horse bare-chested. (AP Photo/RIA Novosti, Alexei Druzhinin, POOL, file) (credit:AP)

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then Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin rides a horse in the foothills of Karatash, near Abakan, the capital of the Khakassia region in Siberia. Putin has become alternately notorious and beloved for an array of adventurous stunts, including posing with a tiger cub and riding a horse bare-chested. (AP Photo/RIA Novosti, Government Press Service, file) (credit:AP)

Is Vladimir Putin the ultimate man?(15 of20)

then Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, right, fixes a radio beacon on a neck of a polar bear, which was anaesthetized, during a visit to a research institute at the Franz Josef Land archipelago in the Arctic Ocean. Putin has become alternately notorious and beloved for an array of adventurous stunts, including posing with a tiger cub and riding a horse bare-chested. (AP Photo/RIA Novosti, Alexei Nikolsky, Government Press Service, file) (credit:AP)

Is Vladimir Putin the ultimate man?(16 of20)

then Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, center left, and leader of Nochniye Volki (the Night Wolves) biker group, Alexander Zaldostanov, also known as Khirurg (the Surgeon), right, ride bikes at a motor bikers' festival in the Black Sea port of Novorossiysk, Russia. Putin has become alternately notorious and beloved for an array of adventurous stunts, including posing with a tiger cub and riding a horse bare-chested. (AP Photo/RIA Novosti, Alexei Druzhinin, POOL, file) (credit:AP)

Is Vladimir Putin the ultimate man?(17 of20)

then Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin rides a horse during his trip in Ubsunur Hollow in the Siberian Tyva region (also referred to as Tuva), on the border with Mongolia, Russia. Putin has become alternately notorious and beloved for an array of adventurous stunts, including posing with a tiger cub and riding a horse bare-chested. (AP Photo/RIA Novosti, Alexei Druzhinin, POOL) (credit:AP)

Is Vladimir Putin the ultimate man?(18 of20)

then Prime Minister Vladimir Putin holds a tranquilizer gun in a Russian Academy of Sciences reserve in Russia's Far East. Putin has become alternately notorious and beloved for an array of adventurous stunts, including posing with a tiger cub and riding a horse bare-chested. (AP Photo/RIA Novosti, Alexei Druzhinin, POOL, file) (credit:AP)

Is Vladimir Putin the ultimate man?(19 of20)

FILE - In this March 20, 2000 file photo, President Vladimir Putin, wearing a blue helmet and an oxygen mask, sits in Su-27 fighter jet after his flight into the war zone in Chechnya, in Grozny, Russia. Putin has become alternately notorious and beloved for an array of adventurous stunts, including posing with a tiger cub and riding a horse bare-chested. (AP Photo/ITAR-TASS, Presidential Press Service, file) (credit:AP)

Vladimir Putin(20 of20)

File - In this file photo taken on Sunday, Aug. 31, 2008, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin locks a collar with a satellite tracker on the tranquilized five-year-old Ussuri tiger in a Russian Academy of Sciences reserve in Russia's Far East as he took a part in the national program for preserving the population of the Ussuri tiger conducted by researchers of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Animal-loving Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has been accused of staging his famous encounter with a tigress three years ago. St. Petersburg-based environmentalists Dmitry Molodtsov says that photos of the animal that Putin tagged with a GPS collar in 2008 and subsequent images of what preservationists claimed was the same tigress in fact showed two different animals, indicating that Putin's tigress never was let out into the wild. Molodtsov claimed Friday that Putin's tigress was borrowed from a local zoo for the occasion. A coordinator at the government-funded Amur tiger conservation project dismissed his claim as untrue.(AP Photo / RIA-Novosti, Alexei Druzhinin, Pool) (credit:AP)

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