Addressing a combined business meet here before leaving for New Delhi on Monday, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said the Government has approved a report of the Indo-Russian Joint Study Group and decided to set up a Joint Task Force to implement its recommendations to boost trade and economic interaction between the two countries.

“I am happy to inform you that the Government of India has approved the report of the Joint Study Group. We have decided to set up a Joint Task Force to implement the recommendations,” Singh said.

During the Prime Minister’s visit to Moscow in 2005, the two sides had decided on a Joint Study Group to examine the feasibility of signing a Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) and suggest ways to enhance bilateral trade turnover to US$10 billion by 2010.

The Joint Study Group, in its fourth and final meeting in Moscow in July, had finalised its report and submitted it to their respective governments for approval. It had recommended the setting up of a joint task force to monitor implementation of the report.

Stressing the immense business opportunities between two countries, Singh said there was no substitute for a vigorous two-way engagement between the business communities of India and Russia. “I regard today’s meeting as a vital step in that direction,” he said.