MOSCOW, March 25. /TASS/. The field session of the upcoming St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) will be held on March 27 in Johannesburg, South Africa, Roscongress, the forum’s organizer, said in a press release.

"On 27 March, Johannesburg will host a field session of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum 2024. The main theme is "SPIEF 2024: Developing Business Cooperation between Russia and South Africa," Roscongress said. According to the press release, speakers at the event include Oleg Savikov, Deputy Trade Representative to South Africa; Alexey Valkov, Deputy CEO of the Roscongress Foundation and Director of SPIEF; NJ Ayuk, Executive Chairman of the African Energy Chamber; Stavros Nicolaou, Senior Executive Director of Aspen Pharmacare and member of the South Africa BRICS Business Council; Elias Monage, President of the Black Business Council; George Sebulela, President of the African United Business Confederation; and Slauzy Zodwa Mogami, Chairperson of Ladies in the Frontline SA.

As Valkov recalled, in summer 2023, the second Russia-Africa Summit and Russia-Africa Economic and Humanitarian Forum was held.

"We see mutual interest and understand that to continue a meaningful dialogue, we need to employ new formats. A field session is one of them. This enables us to engage in face-to-face discussions about the advantages of the SPIEF platform," Valkov said as quoted by the press service of Roscongress.

As Monage noted, Russia is not only a key partner of South Africa, but also plays an important role in supplying technology for the development of its economy.

"We actively cooperate in areas such as energy, agriculture, mining and processing of minerals, and intellectual property," he said as quoted in the press release.

The 27th St. Petersburg International Economic Forum will be held on June 5-8.