On June 2-5, the northern capital will host the International Economic Forum (SPIEF), an event that rightfully took first place in the list of the largest business events in Russia. This year, a number of topics will be devoted to economic recovery in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.
SPIEF has been held since 1997 and is considered a presidential event. The Forum traditionally gathers key government and business figures. Since 2006, it has been held with the participation of the President of the Russian Federation.
More than 1500 participants from 50 countries of the world attended the first forum.
In 2019, an unprecedented number of participants participated in the forum – more than 19,000 people from 145 countries of the world, with 1,300 guests at the level of company heads.
The tracks of the business program are traditionally devoted to issues of the global and Russian economy, social issues and technology development.
SPIEF-reboot
This year, Qatar will take part in SPIEF as a guest country. Moreover, the delegation from Qatar will become one of the largest in the history of the country’s participation in international economic forums. “Realizing the importance of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, Qatar has prepared a large-scale business program, which will be presented in the national pavilion of Qatar. Doha Hall on the territory of the pavilion will become a space where the heads of ministries and departments, heads of key companies in the country, representatives of public organizations will discuss the strengthening of economic and political relations between states, business and cultural ties, cooperation in the field of ecology and nature conservation, sports and innovation, healthcare and information technology,” he said .Sheikh Ahmed bin Nasser Al Thani, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the State of Qatar to the Russian Federation. During the forum, in order to develop and strengthen economic relations between the two countries, over 200 meetings of Qatari and Russian businessmen are planned. The result of such interaction between the two parties is expected to be the signing of more than 60 agreements.
Signing of other major contracts is also planned. In particular, the Leningrad Region will sign investment agreements totaling more than 1 trillion rubles. The Novgorod region is preparing to formalize investment agreements for 6 billion rubles .
SPIEF will host several major discussions this year. For the first time on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, the XI annual international conference “TRILOGY” (Transport. Investments. Logistics) will be held. The purpose of the conference is to promote the development of the transport and logistics industry in the North-West region of Russia, international transport corridors and international cooperation in the field of transport in the European direction. The participants of the event will discuss cooperation in the area of Greater Eurasia in the field of transport, the development of multimodal transportation in the Baltic and Barents/Euro-Arctic regions, the coordination of the development of port infrastructure and railway approaches to it.
A separate major event will be the Creative Business Forum, which will bring together creative visionaries, business representatives and government officials to discuss key issues facing the creative economy.
Another unique event for an event of this level will also take place: this year SPIEF Junior will be held. For the first time, within the framework of one program, the current challenges of the world economy will be discussed by schoolchildren aged 14-17, world business leaders and officials. It is planned that 200 students from all over Russia, as well as from Qatar, will participate.
Also, once again, the Russian Forum of Small and Medium Enterprises (VI Forum of SMEs) will be held, which will be dedicated to discussing the current state of small and medium-sized enterprises and measures to increase their role in the Russian economy.
Events dedicated to medicine will play a key role. In particular, a concert will be dedicated to doctors and volunteers as part of the St. Petersburg Seasons SPIEF Culture Festival. The Drug Safety Forum will cover a wide range of drug supply issues. SPIEF participants will also discuss issues of improving the quality of life of patients with diabetes, innovative solutions on the way to defeating HIV.
Sber will show
Sber plans to raise topical issues of economic development during the pandemic at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum. President, Chairman of the Board of Sberbank German Gref will become the moderator of the discussion “Architecture of the post-COVID world: technologies, economy, society”. He will also host Sber’s business breakfast “The Russian Economy: Reloading the Modernization Strategy”, the main topic of which will be building institutions that stimulate economic growth and creating an attractive image of the future.
One of the important sessions of Sberbank at SPIEF – “The Client-Centric State” – will be devoted to the interaction between government and people. Sessions will also be held to discuss issues of the venture economy of developing countries and inflation in the global economy. Governments are paying more and more attention to the needs of citizens and society as a whole and are actively using customer experience in decision-making, trying to keep up with business. “The use of a client-centric approach allows the state to interact with citizens and businesses in accordance with their needs – conveniently, quickly, taking into account individual characteristics. It is also important for civil servants to see internal clients in their colleagues. This allows, even with interdepartmental interaction, to be a single team focused on results for the client. notes the rector of the Russian Academy of National Economy and Public Administration under the President of the Russian Federation (RANEPA), discussion participant Vladimir Mau.
Traditionally, SPIEF 2021 will focus on technology. Sber top officials will discuss digital services for business, digital sovereignty and cybersecurity. Sber will also address the topic of sustainable development. The session “ESG-transformation of corporate strategies. How the pandemic stimulated the transition to sustainable development”, which will be attended by Alexander Vedyakhin, First Deputy Chairman of the Board of Sberbank.
Sber also plans to highlight a number of the latest popular trends that will be useful to entrepreneurs today. In particular, Sberbank Vice President Vladislav Kreinin plans to sort out the question: do bloggers make money from business or business from bloggers. And Sberbank Executive Director Alla Sbitneva will discuss the modernization of the fashion ecosystem in Russia.
In addition, one of the sessions of Sberbank will be dedicated to Art. creativity. AI – artificial intelligence, which is used in the field of art – in music, painting, publishing and other areas. Andrey Kurpatov, scientific director of the Laboratory of Neurosciences and Human Behavior of Sberbank, will be the moderator of this session.
The digitalization of our economy is in full swing. Today it is already difficult for business to imagine how to exist without those electronic services that were created, for example, by the Federal Tax Service. Recently, the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation submitted a draft law to the State Duma, which will enable businesses and authorities to convert documents into electronic form while maintaining the full legal significance of the original. The national project to support SMEs implies an increase in the number of digital services to 25 by 2024. It is very important for business to understand the state strategy for the development of digital services, which we will discuss at the Plenary meeting of the SME Forum.
The COVID-19 pandemic has become a test of strength for the infrastructure industries on which the functioning of the entire economy depends. Rosseti coped with objective difficulties, provided reliable power supply to consumers, and maintained a high pace of development. Now we are facing challenges related to economic recovery and new large-scale tasks, and possibly the emergence of additional points of growth. We hope that the discussions at SPIEF 2021 will allow not only checking watches with colleagues, but also finding answers to topical issues on the energy agenda.
Equal gender presence in the management structure allows to increase the efficiency of the entire organization. Business success is largely determined by the ability to find innovative and creative solutions, using non-standard approaches to conflict and crisis situations. A diverse mix of executives is a powerful competitive advantage for a company.
Creative industries are based on the creative and intellectual abilities of people, which are used at the intersection of culture, business and management. The Creative Business Forum is a unique platform for dialogue and the search for effective solutions that will allow our cultural figures and creative entrepreneurs to become successful and in demand not only in Russia, but also abroad.
