MADRID (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 11th December, 2019) Frank Bainimarama, the Fijian prime minister, told Sputnik on Tuesday that the island nation and Russia should boost trade and investment opportunities as well as expand the tourism industry.
"Yes. The only time I went to Russia I met with the prime minister [Dmitry Medvedev]. It was done years ago. Yes, we need to talk and see what we can do in terms of business, import and export, tourism. We need tourists from Russia to come to Fiji," Bainimarama said on the sidelines of the UN Climate Change Conference in Madrid in response to a question on whether Fiji was considering cooperation with Moscow.
The prime minister paid an official visit to Russia in 2013, during which the sides agreed on a number of joint projects in the areas of education, sports, tourism and cultural exchanges.
In 2016, Fiji and Russia made an arms deal worth $8.8 million to rearm the island's military forces. Last year, Russia's state space corporation Roscosmos has conducted negotiations with Fiji about placing GLONASS satellite stations on its territory.
