Senator Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go on Saturday expressed elation over the “fruitful” visit of President Rodrigo Duterte to Russia, saying that the government’s campaign against terrorism earning praises from his Russian counterparts who are also willing to support.

The senator added that Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated President Duterte in his fight against terrorism and with the security relations between the Philippines and Russia strengthened, Go said that he hopes this spills over to the economic sector.

Go also noted that the groundbreaking business deals signed between Filipino and Russian companies can generate economic opportunities for Filipinos.

In the recent visit, Filipino business executives and their Russian counterparts signed several business agreements worth US$12.6 million. The scope of these deals range from business cooperation, agricultural exports, electric power and importation.

These include five memorandums of understanding that would enforce cooperation on information exchange and collaboration on business development to promote trade and investment between the two countries, and supply local tuna to four companies to serve the Russian market.

Also included in the deals are two memorandums of intent that would explore the possibilities of cooperation in building nuclear power plants in the Philippines.

On Russia’s part of the deal, both countries signed a distributorship agreement for two Russian companies to sell watches and vehicles in the Philippines. A memorandum of agreement was also signed to promote, distribute and sell Russian technology in the Philippines.

The signings, which was done during the Philippines-Russia business forum in Moscow, were described as the beginning of stronger business ties between Russia and the Philippines.