Speaking at the forum, the Deputy Prime Minister said that the economic ties between the two countries are developing well and bilateral trade and investment have increased in recent years. However, according to Mr Dvorkovich, “the volumes are still insufficient and have not yet reached the level of full-scale cooperation."

This means that there is a need for decisions at the government level as well as actions to encourage Russian companies to sign new trade and investment contracts, Mr Dvorkovich said.

He pointed out that due to the similarity of their economies, Russia and Brazil mainly trade in commodities. "Hopefully, the potential that our countries have built over the past years, including in manufacturing and high-tech sectors, will help increase trade and investment in these areas," the Deputy Prime Minister said.

He added that a number of Russian companies have already started signing contracts in these areas, but this is just the beginning of the road. The Russian Government will encourage Russian and Brazilian companies to actively pursue such cooperation, Mr Dvorkovich assured.

The Deputy Prime Minister also stressed that in the coming years Russia and Brazil will be hosting lots of interesting events, including sporting events. Specifically, Russia will host the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi and Brazil will host the Summer Olympics in 2016. The 2018 FIFA World Cup will be held in Russia, which will pick up the torch from Brazil, the host country of for the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

"We will have a hard time competing with Brazil on the football pitch, but will do our best to put up a good show against the world's best team," Mr Dvorkovich said, adding that Russia's Yekaterinburg and Brazilian Sao Paulo have also submitted bids to host the World Expo 2020.