ST. PETERSBURG, June 16. /TASS/. Russia’s course toward openness and wide international cooperation will be the focus of the business program of the 25th St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, which begins on Thursday.

Participants will look for new possibilities for strengthening the country’s economic sovereignty and for resolving priority tasks facing humankind.

The jubilee, 25th St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF), is especially symbolic. Over the years of its existence, it has become an authoritative international event, which is often called Russian Davos. But the organizer of the forum in Davos, the World Economic Forum, this year embarked on a path of "cancelling" and, due to the Western sanctions, has suspended contacts with the Russian side, which has participated in this forum since 1986. However, Russia was discussed practically at all sessions of the Swiss forum. The SPIEF, on the contrary, is one of the most open formats, with delegates from more than 120 world nations, including such not very friendly countries as the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Germany, and the Netherlands, taking part.

On June 16, the forum will be attended by Russian President Vladimir Putin. According to his press secretary Dmitry Peskov, the president will meet with businessmen to discuss the situation in the automotive industry. The meeting will also be attended by Russian government officials. Apart from that, according to Peskov, Putin will have contacts with entrepreneurs and investors.

Friendly dialogues

The forum’s traditional interstate business dialogues demonstrate new priorities of the country’s foreign economic cooperation. The Russia-China dialogue will address the unprecedented challenges the two countries are now facing and their plans of equal and mutually beneficial cooperation. The Russia-Africa dialogue will focus on the food and energy security on the continent and its emerging centers of global development.

The dialogue between the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) and ASEAN will discuss the development of environmental and climate projects, industrial cooperation, digitalization processes. The Russia - Latin America dialogue will center round prospects for cooperation in the energy, healthcare, pharmaceutical and high technology sectors. The Russia-Turkey and Russia-Egypt dialogues will address a wide range of practical issues concerning vacant niches in trade, industry, agriculture.

Opportunities in a new world

The central topic of this year’s forum is New Opportunities in a New World. Russian President Vladimir Putin said in his address to the forum that the Western countries’ numerous mistakes in their economic policies and their illegitimate sanctions have entailed a wave of global inflation, the severance of traditional logistics and production chains, growing poverty and food shortages.

It is practically impossible to address these global problems without Russia’s participation. And although the country’s current task is to strengthen its own economic sovereignty, Russia is not going to close and will continue its course to openness and wide economic cooperation. The search for a balance between domestic and global problems is reflected in the main four topics of the forum’s business program.

The forum’s key topics

The New Economic Order: Responding to the Challenges of the Time. This track is dedicated to issues of economic recovery, international cooperation within the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), BRICS, and the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), the transformation of global trade, businesses’ efficiency in the new logistics environment, green alternatives to traditional fuels, the situation on the global oil and gas markets.

The Russian Economy: New Objectives and Horizons. This track will focus on new challenges facing the country: the transition from the anti-crisis agenda to boosting the economy’s long-term potential, the investment climate in Russian regions, the development of the Russian financial market and R&D sector, etc.

Modern Technology for Humanity: Building a Responsible Future. This track will embrace issues of international cooperation in science, digital sovereignty and information security, digitalization of the healthcare sector, etc.

Investment in Development as Investment in People. This track will look at cultural codes of the new reality, the development of human capital assets, new skills and employment models in the post-Covid world.

The program of the first day features more than 200 official events: business sessions, dialogues, meetings, presentations, signing ceremonies, etc.

About the forum

The St. Petersburg International Economic Forum organized by the Roscongress Foundation is taking place on June 15 through 18. This year’s forum is dubbed: ‘New Opportunities in a New World’. A number of other events will take place beyond the business program, among them are the SME Forum, the Creative Business Forum, the Drug Security Forum, the SPIEF Junior Dialogue and SPIEF Sport Week. TASS serves as the event’s official photo hosting agency and the information partner.