Participants of the round table "Made in Russia" told about their experience and vision of promotion of goods produced in Russia and abroad, as well as about tools to support domestic exporters, which are implemented at the regional and federal level.

Thus, Mikhail Sadchenkov, General Director of the national brand "Made in Russia", believes that today high quality products alone are no longer enough for a foreign consumer to be interested in them. It is necessary to use the newest tools for positioning Russian products abroad, including tools for collective promotion, including those offered by the national brand "Made in Russia".

"In addition to high quality products, today's foreign consumers need to be given an idea that can distinguish them from their foreign counterparts. High competition for the consumer's attention should force producers to take non-standard steps in promotion and not to be separated by participation in exhibitions," said Mikhail Sadchenkov.

Director for External Relations of the Russian Credit and Investment Insurance Agency (EXIAR) Andrei Kocherov said that in 2015 more than 172 exporters were insured by EXIAR for more than $6 billion. He stressed that over the years the company has seen a lot of cases when foreign consumers wanted to buy goods whose manufacturers are not shy about the fact that they are from Russia despite the presence of counterparts produced in other countries.

Andrei Kocherov is sure that the companies positioning themselves through the brand-integrator Made in Russia, significantly save on their promotion through consolidated communication with potential partners and customers, as well as contribute to the development of collective identity of Russian products.

Andrey Razbrodin, President of the Russian Union of Entrepreneurs of Textile and Light Industry (Soyuzlegprom), is sure that Russian producers, even despite the difficulties in the economy, can find partners in the form of foreign companies to conquer new markets and create joint ventures.

"Russia continues to be an attractive market for foreign investment. For example, the light industry already has successful examples of joint ventures with foreign capital, which work both for the saturation of the domestic market and for export," - said Andrey Razbrodin.

Andrey Afonin, Director of the Entrepreneurship Support Fund of the Republic of Tatarstan, said that regional authorities are ready to support initiatives to enter foreign markets. In particular, Tatarstan has an export support centre that provides advisory and information support to representatives of small and medium-sized businesses willing to export the products manufactured in the republic abroad, provides assistance in participating in business missions, supporting certification and patenting of products.

Alexey Tsaregorodtsev, a member of the Board of Branding Companies of Russia and General Director of the REALPRO branding company, believes that the key consumers of goods exported abroad are Russians living abroad. They retain a nostalgic interest in anything related to Russia. In Germany, for example, more than 4m people know and speak Russian. According to Tsaregorodtsev, in recent years Russia has exported more than 40 billion euros worth of goods to Germany - meat and dairy products, various types of canned food, weak and strong alcohol, household chemicals, industrial goods.

The expert stressed that in the process of preparing for the launch of Russian products on the foreign market, it is necessary to study the consumer, his cultural peculiarities, to adapt the brand to local realities.