MOSCOW, June 23. /TASS/. The St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF), that was held on June 16-18, showed Russia’s determination to develop business despite the problems in relations with the West, President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev told TASS.
In an interview with First Deputy General Director of TASS Mikhail Gusman the Kazakh leader said: "The Economic Forum in St. Petersburg has become a very important platform for meetings of politicians, economists and experts. The very fact of participation of ten thousand people, including Western business people, heads of the largest companies, the UN Secretary General and the Prime Minister of Italy - all this shows that Russian business is looking ahead," the President of Kazakhstan said.
Nazarbayev also marked the importance of Kazakhstan's participation in the forum. He said that for his country it was an opportunity to discuss issues of economic cooperation, international security and bilateral issues between Astana and Moscow.
During SPIEF-2016 Russian President Vladimir Putin held talks with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, Prime Minister of Italy Matteo Renzi, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev, the President of the Republic of Guinea Alpha Conde, former French President Nicolas Sarkozy and a number of representatives of large foreign businesses.