The Lord Mayor today (Wednesday December 14) jointly chaired thesecond meeting of the Joint Liaison Group working to develop Moscowas an International Financial Centre.

UK-based practitioners met with a 13-strong delegation led byAlexander Voloshin, the Head of the Russian President"s Taskforceon creating an international financial centre in Moscow, at MansionHouse to advise the Russian authorities on creating the conditionsin Moscow for the development of international financialservices.

The meeting was followed by an open session in which TheCityUKmembers heard from Mr Voloshin and the Lord Mayor David Wootton.

Members were able to put their questions to the speakers and othersenior members of the Russian delegation.

Speaking at the event, the Lord Mayor of the City of London,Alderman David Wootton, said:"Russia"s potential is almost limitless. But it is resource richand services light, whereas Britain is the opposite. So it makesabsolute sense for us to work together.

"As the Prime Minister said in Moscow, some people talk abouttrade as a competition in which one country"s success is another"sfailure. But the whole point about trade is that " as he sodelightfully put it " we"re baking a bigger cake and everyone canbenefit from it.

"We are delighted by the continuing support of the RussianGovernment for this Group because their support will be crucial forits success."The Russian Government has identified TheCityUK as a leadingpartner in its work to develop Moscow as an International FinancialCentre. In September 2011, TheCityUK, The Russian Taskforce andVnescheconom Bank signed a Memorandum of Understanding detailingthe objectives and working arrangements for their cooperation onthe Moscow project.