Westward ho for Russians

’s ambitions to be a major player in pan-European engineering and technology were underlined by its most prominent role yet at the

,

’s largest showcase for industrial innovations.

Russia, which this year for the first time joined the annual event’s A-list as an official ‘partner nation’, signed major deals with German engineering giants Siemens and BASF, and signalled its intention to forge closer links with western European companies for technology development projects.

Aerospace, automotive, healthcare and energy were all named by the Russians as priority areas for hi-tech co-operation.

The Russians’ pivotal role at Hanover was underlined by a joint appearance by president Vladimir Putin and German chancellor Gerhard Schroeder to formally open the gargantuan exhibition. The two leaders looked on as Siemens Transportation Systems and Russian Railways signed a deal worth up to N1.5bn (£1bn) to bring high-speed train technology to Russia.

Siemens will provide technology and infrastructure development services for the project, which will see up to 60 trains running mainly on the Moscow-St Petersburg-Helsinki route. The trains themselves will be built mainly in Russia in co-operation with local suppliers.