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3.1.2 The Russian economy has recovered from the difficulties of the late 1998 financial crisis and is experiencing significant growth, with GDP increasing an average of almost 7% between 2001 and 2006. Recently, Russia's economy has benefited from high commodity prices, cheap domestic energy, low global interest rates, and spare manufacturing and labour capacity. In 2005, the Russian economy was the world's tenth largest ($766 billion USD) and is expected to be in the top six in the coming decade. Two-way trade has been increasing at a dramatic pace with Canadian exports jumping from $240 million in 2002 to $870 million in 2006 (source: StatsCan). These impressive figures do not include exports of Canadian services to Russia, Canadian goods trans-shipped through third countries, or Canadian goods purchased by Russian companies and registered "off-shore", such as aircraft. While China still represents Canada's largest export destination amongst BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, China) countries, Russia is only slightly behind Brazil (at $1,337 million) in absolute terms. More importantly, year-on-year growth in Canadian exports to Russia in 2006 (54%) was more than twice as fast as growth in Canadian exports to Brazil (21%) and Canadian exports to Russia are expected to exceed exports to Brazil some time in early 2008. In addition, Russia's active interest in investment abroad and strategic alliances as a means to diversify its industry is growing, as signalled by recent high profile agreements. Export Development Canada (EDC) has also seen a significant increase in export financing activity in Russia.
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