Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is wrapping up his week-long tour of Asia and Russia — and is not coming back to Caracas empty-handed.
According to Bloomberg, Maduro embarked on his trip rather quickly in the hopes of convincing petroleum-producing countries such as Russia and Saudi Arabia to stabilize oil prices by reducing oil production. Maduro is deeply concerned with the oil prices of his country, which have dropped drastically in the past couple of months. Venezuela’s crude oil prices fell from $100 a barrel in June 2014 to $42 last week. Petroleum exports account for 95% of the nation’s foreign currency exports, and Venezuela has the largest crude oil reserves in the world.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), which Venezuela belongs to, is refusing to cut production, citing concerns that the recent boom of U.S. shale oil has reduced the overall demand. OPEC members Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and the United Arab Emirates have rebuked Venezuela’s efforts to increase prices. However, Iran, another OPEC member, agrees with Maduro’s suggestion.
According to Foreign Policy, Maduro, who is becoming increasingly unpopular with his citizens, has visited many OPEC as well as non-OPEC countries. So far, he has visited Russia, China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Algeria, and unconfirmed reports suggest that he intends to visit Mexico. On January 15th, Maduro met with Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss oil prices and “the stability of natural resources.”
“Venezuela is not just a friend but also a close partner, one of Russia’s most important partners,” Putin said in a prepared statement. Maduro claims Russian investors have agreed to invest more money and resources into joint-ventures in Venezuela, though he declined to provide details.
In addition to Russian patronage, Venezuela expects to receive funds from China. Last week in Beijing, Maduro claimed that the Chinese are poised to invest $20 billion for “economic, energy and social projects” in his country. Just as with his explanation of the Russian investments, he neglected to provide specifics.
Most likely, Venezuelan companies that will receive these funds will use proposal management software. Proposal software enables users to manage and present formal business proposals. Some of its abilities include organizing proper documentation, formatting business letters, outlining quotes and contracts, and double-checking for any duplicate or missing documentation.