Today, 26 January, 2012, the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos in collaboration with the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum held a session entitled «Russia Outlook». The session hosted a range of prominent panelists, representing Russian political and business leadership as well as international investor community, and was moderated by Christia Freeland, Digital Editor, Thomson Reuters, USA. The panelists included Igor Shuvalov, First Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation, Thomas Mirrow, President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, Alexey Kudrin, Professor, Dean of Faculty, Saint Petersburg State University, Klaus Kleinfeld, Chairman and CEO of Alcoa and Chairman of Russia-US Business Council, Andrei Kostin, Chairman and CEO of VTB Bank, Russia, and Augie K. Fabela II, Chairman and Co-Founder, VimpelCom, the Netherlands.
The panelists discussed the political, social and economic landscape for the Russian Federation for the coming decade, taking into account the recent parliamentary elections and the upcoming Presidential elections, with particular focus on the challenges ahead for the incoming government of the Russian Federation. In a wide ranging interactive debate, panelists shared their views about improvements required to the investment and business climate in Russia, the need for further modernization and diversification of the economy, efforts to ease administrative procedures and the strengthening of state institutions, as well as the need to stimulate growth in small and medium size businesses and the impact of an expanding middle class.
