St. Petersburg International Economic Forum Has Started

More than 17,000 representatives from 130 countries and regions of the world are taking part in the 26th St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (June 14-17). On June 16, Russian President Vladimir Putin will speak.

The 26th International Economic Forum (SPIEF) started today in St. Petersburg. The Kremlin did not want to cancel  the event, which, according to many international observers, “represents a challenge to the sanctions policy of the West.” According to the organizer of the Forum, the Roscongress agency, more than 17 thousand representatives of business, finance, politics, and political establishment from 130 countries and territories of the world have arrived in the old capital of the kings. The honorary guest of the Forum this year was the United Arab Emirates, one of the major economic and trade partners of Russia in the Middle East: last year, trade between the two countries increased by 68% compared to 2021.

Algerian President Abdelmajid Tebboun arrived in Moscow yesterday for a state visit and, after two days of negotiations with Russian President Vladimir Putin, will travel to St. Petersburg together with the head of the Kremlin to participate in the SPIEF-2023.

On June 16, the President of Russia will address the participants and guests of the Forum with a traditional speech.

The Forum is a maxi-international conference dedicated to economics and trade issues, which has been held annually since 1997 in St. Petersburg. In 2020, the Forum was canceled at the last minute due to the Covid pandemic.

This year, the central topic of the Forum is “Sovereign Development as the Basis for a Just World. Let’s join efforts in the name of future generations.” Since 2006, SPIEF has been under the patronage of the President of the Russian Federation. The Forum will have to face new geopolitical and geo-economic realities associated with the anti-Russian sanctions policy of the West that decided to boycott the event at the institutional level. However, many European, American, and Canadian entrepreneurs came to St. Petersburg on their own.

The agenda of the Forum 2023 is divided into five major thematic blocks: from the analysis of the global economy to the era of globalism in Russia, which is moving from adaptation to growth (GDP growth is predicted to be 1-2% in 2023 and 4% in 2024), building national technological sovereignty, to protecting the population and improving the quality of life as an absolute priority, and, finally, to analyzing modern labor markets and sound responses to new challenges.

A verity of other burning issues will be analyzed in the course of many hundreds of events, including workshops, round tables, and working dinners, specifically sustainable economic development, the current situation and prospects for the development of a green economy, food security, carbon emission reduction, and global energy in the era of change.