Culture must come before commerce in UK-Russia relations
30 November 2012
As Russia assumes the presidency of the G20 group of major economies on 1 December, the British Council says that culture holds the key to the UK’s successful economic engagement with Russia.
Recent British Council research suggests that only 27 per cent of the next generation of Russia’s business leaders are interested in doing business with the UK without having been involved in cultural exchange. However, after cultural interaction – such as learning English, studying in the UK or experiencing the UK arts scene - the figure rises to 52 per cent.
Cultural links were a major topic of conversation when Russian President Vladimir Putin visited the UK in August.
John Worne, the British Council’s Director of Strategy, said: “If you want to do the business in Russia, the first date should be an art gallery.”
“Russia’s artistic and cultural history is the history of the world in the 20th century – but it runs far deeper than that. Russia’s artistic, musical, architectural, balletic, literature and design achievements – along with its science and technology – are sources of tremendous, justifiable Russian pride. Anyone who wants to do business with Russia needs to know that Russians know their culture, value it, are well-read and cultivated.“
“I remember well the 1990s ‘goldrush’ when Telecoms companies dashed into Russia – I worked for a big UK telecoms company in Minsk, Moscow – and over the Urals into Siberia. And the constant in all three was Russian Telecoms engineers were as knowledgeable about ballet, literature and UK music as they were about cell-phone towers and pylons.”
“Our research shows that Russians are much more likely to want to business with the UK if we’ve shared culture. And the more we’ve shared, the more likely they are to want to do business. As Russia assumes presidency of the G20, expect culture to be on the agenda – Russia knows it has cultural ‘soft power’. My message to UK PLC is that you need to talk culture with Russia before you try to do the business.“
The British Council has been working in Russia since 1992. Despite closing its offices outside Moscow in 2007 during a difficult period for UK-Russia relations, the organisation is at the forefront of building bonds between the two countries.
In the past two years, the British Council has helped to take exhibitions by Henry Moore and Anthony Gormley to Moscow and St Petersburg, as well as erecting a statue of Yuri Gagarin – a gift from Russia – outside its London headquarters on the Mall. The British Council’s Learn English websites are used by more than 200,000 Russians a year. The organisation builds partnerships between schools and Higher Education Institutions in the UK and Russia, and promotes the UK as a place to study for a growing number of Russian students.
For more information, contact Mark Moulding in the British Council Press Office on +44 (0)207 389 4889 or mark.moulding@britishcouncil.org
Notes to Editors:
The British Council creates international opportunities for the people of the UK and other countries and builds trust between them worldwide. We are a Royal Charter charity, established as the UK’s international organisation for educational opportunities and cultural relations.
We work in more than 100 countries, and our 7000 staff – including 2000 teachers – work with thousands of professionals and policy makers and millions of young people every year through English, arts, education and society programmes.
We earn over 75% of our annual turnover of £739 million from services which customers pay for, education and development contracts we bid for and from partnerships. A UK Government grant provides the remaining 25%. We match every £1 of core public funding with over £3 earned in pursuit of our charitable purpose.
For more information, please visit: www.britishcouncil.org. You can also keep in touch with the British Council through Twitter and the British Council Voices blog.
