Results of Day One of the XX Anniversary Forum
1. Opening ceremony
The official opening ceremony for the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum was held on June 16. The participants of the XX anniversary Forum were greeted by Sergei Prikhodko, Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation – Chief of Staff of the Government of the Russian Federation and Chairman of the Organizing Committee.
The Chairman of the Organizing Committee stressed that “over the past two decades, the Forum has become a globally recognised platform for an open dialogue between the representatives of the business and the authorities, for a conversation on urgent problems that concern our countries.” The heads of governments and nations, representatives of large international financial and industrial organizations and companies arrived in St Petersburg to participate in the top business event of the year.
The forum participants include key businessmen and politicians such as Ban Ki-moon, Secretary-General of the United Nations; Jean-Claude Juncker, President of the European Commission; Tigran Sargsyan, Chairman of the Board of the Eurasian Economic Commission; Nicolas Sarkozy, ex-President of France; Daniel A. Russell, President and CEO of the U.S.-Russia Business Council; Jack Ma, Executive Chairman of Alibaba Group; BP Chief Executive Robert Dudley; – this bright constellation of names demonstrates the potential of SPIEF and shows confidence in the Forum
2. Business programme
Sergei Prikhodko, Chairman of the Organizing Committee, stressed that this year the Forum platforms would be used to discuss the most urgent problems of the new economic reality, the challenges faced by the global economy and the Russian economy.
The theme of the anniversary forum is “Capitalizing on the new global economic reality”. There discussions will be held in five major areas:
· Sustaining economic expansion;
· Realizing the economic potential of Russia;
· New geo-economic dynamics;
· Navigating revolutions in technology;
· The human dimension.
The schedule is very busy. The first day alone has seen 51 events:
· Official opening of the Forum;
· Meeting of the President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev with Russian business representatives;
· Regional Consultative Business 20 Forum in the format of two panel discussions;
· SCO Business Forum;
· BRICS Business Forum;
· Valdai Club Session;
· Energy Company Summit;
· Sberbank Plenary Session;
· 26 panel sessions of the main programme;
· 2 events in the format of TV debates;
· 4 business roundtables;
· 8 roundtables;
· 2 events in the format “Conversations with the Extraordinary”;
Three business forums were held on the first day of SPIEF: the SCO, BRICS and Business 20. For the second time, the special session of the Valdai Discussion Club has been held; this year it was devoted to relations between Russia and the European Union. Russia offered to the European Union to jointly take an inventory of the bilateral relations.
A meeting with Nicolas Sarkozy, ex-President of France, was held as part of the Conversations with the Extraordinary cycle. Answering the questions of TV presenter Sergei Brilev, Mr. Sarkozy said that “he came here because the current relations between Russia and Europe were not what they should be” and that “only real friends come when things are bad”.
3. Forum participants
For the 20th time, the Forum unites businessmen, politicians, and financial experts from all over the world. Foreign participants arrived from more than 125 countries, including from Austria, Hungary, Germany, Italy, Kazakhstan, Cyprus, China, the Netherlands, UAE, Slovenia, USA, Finland, France, Switzerland, Japan, and others. 29 ministers from 23 foreign states, 8 ministers from 6 CIS countries, South Ossetia and Abkhazia and the heads of 68 constituent entities of the Russian Federation took part in the first day of the Forum.
As of June 16, over 12,000 participants have received SPIEF badges, including media representatives.
4. MEDIA
The events of the anniversary SPIEF 2016 will be covered by media representatives from more than 40 countries, including Austria, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Burundi, the United Kingdom, Hungary, Vietnam, Ghana, Guinea, Germany, Hong Kong, Egypt, Israel, India, Iraq, Iran, Spain, Italy, Kazakhstan, Qatar, China, Congo Brazzaville, Latvia, Lebanon, Malta, the UAE, Poland, Russia, Serbia, the USA, Turkey, Finland, France, Switzerland, Sweden, Estonia, and Japan.
As of June 16, 2,134 badges have been issued.
5. Signing of agreements
The first day of the Forum resulted in the signing of 121 agreements, including:
· 106 Agreements
· 14 Memorandums
· 1 Programme
The value of the agreements signed (information about which was not a commercial secret) reached 335 billion rubles. The Government of St. Petersburg has signed 12 agreements worth a total of 44.1 billion.
Rosneft created a joint venture with BP, with plans to invest 300 million dollars in geological exploration.
Italy and Russia signed contracts worth 1.4 billion euros at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.
6. Cultural and sports programmes
Interesting cultural and sports programmes have been prepared for the Forum participants.
On June 15, a charity evening at the Mikhailovsky Theatre was held, and the Art-Football festival of music and football is being held as part of the ‘Under the Flag of Kindness!’ at the Izhorets Stadium.
On June 16 июня, the following events were held:
· The opening ceremony for the Italy in Russia pavilion
· Charity inclusive theatre production: A Completely Unexpected Event. Marriage at the Turner Scientific Research Institute for Children’s Orthopaedics
· Vladimir Vasiliev. Dance and Destiny exhibition at the Stable Wing of the Yusupov Palace
· Reception for African participants at the Governors’ Club
· Reception for Latin American participants at the Seventh Heaven Restaurant
· Awards ceremony for the winners of the 2016 Ust-Luga Cup International Baltic Regatta on the Spit of Zayachy Island
· M-1 Challenge 68, an international mixed martial arts event, at the Yubileyny Sports Palace.
· Gala hockey game for the Roscongress SPIEF 2016 Cup at the Tauride Gardens Sports Centre
· BARYSHNIKOV BY ME. ROBERT WHITMAN photo exhibition at KGallery
· The Conquest of the Russian Arctic. Yakov Khalip, Heir to the Russian Avant-Garde at the ExpoForum Convention and Exhibition Centre
· The Russian Industry photo exhibition at the ExpoForum Convention and Exhibition Centre
· Exhibition of paintings by Fyodor Konyukhov at the ExpoForum Convention and Exhibition Centre
· Guided tour of the Presidential Library: Blending the Past with the Future at the Presidential Library named after Boris Yeltsin
· Performances in the best theaters of the city.
