The St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPEF) is 27. the road brought together leaders of the largest Russian and foreign companies, representatives of state bodies, political and scientific community in order to establish business contacts, find new partners, discuss prospective projects and exchange views on current developments in politics and economy in global and regional markets.
The prestige of the forum as one of the most significant business events in the world continues to grow. The forum is becoming more applicable and dynamic: decisions are made quickly, based on the results of discussions, new projects are actually launched and practical solutions are formed.
Advisor to the president of the Russian Federation, Executive Secretary of the Organization committee of the SPEF Anton Kobyakov noted: "this year, 21,800 people from 139 countries and territories participated in the events of the Forum. Such a significant presence of numerous foreign delegations and representatives of the economy once again confirmed that there is no talk of any international isolation of Russia. The forum brought together representatives of countries wishing to develop their economies in the paradigm of a just and multipolar world.
Freedom of choice of political and economic orientation of various world powers is confirmed by the slogan SPEF 2024: "the basis of a multipolar world is the formation of new points of growth".
Photo from SPEF 2024.
Participants
Despite the sanctions, The Forum is 2024. there was a record number of participants, which exceeded similar numbers in recent years. Guests and participants of the event gathered to discuss international trade and cooperation, sales markets, technological leadership and investment.
Leaders of four countries arrived in St. Petersburg: President of Bolivia Luis Alberto arse Katakora, President of Zimbabwe Emerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa, president of the Republic of Abkhazia Aslan Bhania, president of the Republic of Srpska (Bosnia and Herzegovina) Milorad Dodik.
The guests of the forum were members of the royal families of Bahrain and Saudi Arabia: Abdullah Khalifa Salman Alhalifa and Abdulaziz bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud.
More than 120 senior foreign officials participated in the events: heads of international organizations and associations, ministers of foreign affairs, heads of diplomatic missions, heads of foreign cities and regions. The largest delegations arrived from China – 192 participants, UAE – 105, Zimbabwe – 86, Kazakhstan – 84, India – 80, Oman – 75.
On the Russian side, the forum was attended by: 40 senior officials, 30 heads of federal services and agencies and 81 heads of constituent entities of the Russian Federation.
More than 8,300 representatives of Russian and foreign businesses participated in the Forum. Foreign business at the forum was represented by more than 480 companies from 94 countries and territories, Russian over 3,300 companies.
For the first time, representatives of key companies and organizations of the diamond (mining) industry from African and South Asian countries participated in the Forum.
Leading automotive corporations in China and their Russian divisions were widely represented among the 2024 SPEF participants.
The unprecedented interest of domestic and foreign media is evidenced by the number of journalists who followed the events of the Forum – more than 4,216 people from 34 countries.
Photo from SPEF 2024.
PLENARY SESSION
The key event of the forum was the plenary session at which the president of Russia Vladimir Putin and the heads of foreign states: Bolivia – Luis Alberto arse Katakora and Zimbabwe – Emerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa spoke.
In his speech, Vladimir Putin outlined the structural changes that will be actively supported by the government, highlighted the achievements of the Russian economy and the existing problems in the country and the world, and also spoke about a wide range of geopolitical issues, touching on the topic of cooperation within the BRICS.
"I am sure: both in modern conditions and in the long term, the role, weight and, I will say more, the future of states depends on how effectively they can respond to global challenges, realize their internal potential, use their competitive advantages and level their weaknesses, maintain and strengthen partnerships with other countries.”
The leaders of Bolivia and Zimbabwe held presentations and touched on the issues of the current international agenda.
Photo: President Vladimir Putin, SPEF 2024.
BUSINESS PROGRAM
Numerous discussions on the business program took place within four thematic blocks: "the Russian economy: the goals and tasks of the new cycle"; "transition to a multipolar model of the world economy"; "technologies that provide leadership"; "a healthy society, traditional values and social development are priorities of the state".
The main trend of this year's program was the theme of national sovereignty in political, economic and cultural relations. Most of the discussions concerned economic priorities; ways of trade, technology, scientific and industrial cooperation; financial culture as a driver of economic development; digital e-commerce; banking services; ensuring global food security in the face of economic constraints imposed by the countries of the collective West and other areas related to the economy.
The first platform discussed issues of technological sovereignty, new vectors of international partnership, digital trade and payment preferences in national currencies.
During the discussion on the second platform, approaches to achieving national development goals were discussed, key issues of Tourism Development, the future of small towns and infrastructure were raised.
The third platform included discussions on issues of digital transformation, biometrics, industrial mining, artificial intelligence and cyber security.
On the fourth platform, issues of health-saving technologies, investments in demographics, human resources and the professions of the future were discussed. The health of the nation was chosen as one of the priority areas of domestic policy.
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Within the intensive business program, over 380 events were held on the Forum's industrial and thematic platforms. More than a thousand people performed as speakers, experts and moderators of the sessions.
Photo from SPEF 2024.
INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION
An important place in the programme is given to active international cooperation in order to develop equal interaction with developing countries.
Russian and foreign guests of the Forum actively participated in events such as the Russian-African conference "water is worth more than gold", EAEU-ASEAN session, business dialogues with representatives of Azerbaijan, Brazil, Venezuela, India, Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Oman, South Africa, African and Latin American countries.
Special attention was paid to the new possibilities of trade and economic cooperation between BRICS countries in connection with the planned expansion of the association. As experts have noted, today BRICS members already make up more than a third of the world's economy. The forum discussed ways to build an independent system of international financial transactions, prospective transport corridors, cooperation in the digital economy and more.
Separate discussions were devoted to the prospects of developing business partnerships within the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, including in the fields of transport, energy and green economy.
Within the Economic Forum, a rich cultural and sports program was organized for all participants.
Photo from SPEF 2024.
Read more about SPEF at: Recap of SPIEF 2024 forumspb.com)
24. July 2024.