SPIEF-2019: ECONOMICS IS ABOVE ALL

The St. Petersburg Economic Forum has been held since 1997. Every year representatives and politicians from all over the world come to SPIEF.

One of the most important international events take place from 6 to 8 June at the St. Petersburg ExpoForum. More than 140 countries, about 16 thousand guests and three days of discussions. This year the organizers prepare more than 150 events of various formats and directions. More than a thousand speakers take part in them. The main purpose of the forum is to discuss key issues facing not only Russia, but also the whole world.

The opening ceremony of the forum is expected to be attended by the Chairman of the board of the Eurasian Economic Commission Tigran Sargsyan, Moldovan President Igor Dodon, and the Minister of Finance of Russia Anton Siluanov. Welcome speech to the participants and guests of the SPIEF will be delivered by the Governor (acting) of St. Petersburg Alexander Beglov.

The leading theme of this year is “The Development of a Sustainable Future”. There will be discussed the transformation of international economic associations, the growing social inequality, the unstable trade and political relations. For the first time the ‘Healthy Life’ Area will be opened at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum. It is a specialized platform for discussing issues of improving quality and increasing life. The number of rooms for business sessions and round tables is increased, and the number of meeting rooms is doubled. For the first time there is even organized an open-air exhibition space.

Special guests of SPIEF are China’s President Xi Jinping and UN Secretary-General António Guterres. By the way, Guterres has already stated that he wants to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin at the SPIEF-2019. He is planning to discuss with Putin a number of key topics, including climate change, the fight against terrorism, and global challenges to world security.

President of the People's Republic of China said about the leader of the Russian Federation: "Among foreign colleagues, President Putin for me is the closest and most reliable friend, I deeply value my friendship with him. We have close views on the world process and coinciding concepts of public administration. We have the historic mission of national revival." The head of China Xi Jinping intends to talk with colleagues on the development of cooperation in the oil and gas sector and energy efficiency.

Vladimir Putin held a plenary session where he considered the most important issues of economics, security and technology development. The speech of the President of Russia was expected by many participants of the event - it is, by tradition, considered one of the main speeches at the SPIEF. Vladimir Putin noted that it is important to develop an effective response to the risks of fragmentation of the global political, economic and technological space, to the growth of protectionism, e.g. trade wars.

Xi Jinping also strongly emphasized the need to resist protectionism. He said, that China defends an open-type global economy, opposes a policy of unilateral action, strengthens economic cooperation on the basis of mutual benefits and promotes the development of the world economic order in a more equitable direction.
It must be admitted that, despite the slowdown in global economic development, Chinese-Russian economic cooperation is strengthening and is characterized by rapid growth, wide scale, real efficiency and great potential. China and Russia maintain close economic coordination and are making efforts to accelerate the integration process in the Eurasian space.
PS The President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin by correspondence welcomed the participants, organizers and guests of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum 2019.

He said, that Russia is open to proactive and equitable cooperation with all countries, regional and international organisations for achieving overall economic growth.