Outcomes of the 20th St. Petersburg International Economic Forum 2016: Capitalizing on the New Global Economic Reality
On June 16–18, the 20th St. Petersburg International Economic Forum was held, bringing together more than 12,000 participants from 133 countries, including media representatives and business and government delegations. On June 16, Deputy Prime Minister of Russia, Chief of Staff of the Presidential Executive Office, and Chairman of the SPIEF Organizing Committee Sergei Prikhodko gave a welcome address at the official opening of the Forum. Heads of states, government officials, and executives from leading international companies and organizations gathered in St. Petersburg for one of the key global business events of the year.
Advisor to the President of the Russian Federation and Deputy Chairman and Executive Secretary of the SPIEF Organizing Committee Anton Kobyakov highlighted the Forum’s significance. “One of the key achievements of this year’s Forum is that it has once again confirmed its reputation as one of the largest, most reputable, and indispensable global platforms for direct and frank discussion between representatives of the state, the business community, academia, and experts from all over the world on the current challenges facing the global economy and financial sector. The number of Forum participants continues to grow year after year, which is another testament to Russia’s enduring role as an important global business and finance hub. We highly value the interest and, more importantly, the trust of Forum partners, guests, and participants.”
1. Forum events
The SPIEF programme was unrivalled in terms of scale and the number of themes covered, featuring more than 300 sessions, briefings, press announcements and roundtables.
The official business programme comprised over 100 sessions, including:
- the Opening Ceremony, with the participation of the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker, and President of Guinea Alpha Condé
- the Plenary Session: Capitalizing on the New Global Economic Reality, with the participation of the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin, President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev, and Prime Minister of Italy Matteo Renzi
- A meeting between President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev and members of Russia’s business community
- the B20 Regional Consultation Forum
- the SCO Business Forum
- the BRICS Business Forum
- a session of the Valdai International Discussion Club
- the Global Energy Prize Award Ceremony
- the Development Prize Award Ceremony
- a presentation on the outcomes of the Russian Regional Investment Climate Index
- Energy Summit: World Oil Market at Crossroads: Uncertainty Investments or Risk Management?
- Media Summit
- a meeting with prominent academics and Nobel Prize winners
- 4 sector-specific business breakfasts
- Sberbank Plenary Session
- 55 panel sessions as part of the main programme
- 5 TV debates
- 10 regional business dialogues
- 9 roundtables
- 4 events in the series “Conversation with the Extraordinary”, featuring former French President (2007–2012) Nicolas Sarkozy; CEO of Hyperloop Transportation Technologies Dirk Ahlborn; Executive Chairman of Alibaba Group Jack Ma; and Founder, Chairman, and CEO of LeEco Global Holdings LTD Yueting Jia
2. Forum business programme
The Forum’s key event was the plenary session ‘Capitalizing on the New Global Economic Reality’, covered by 86 international television channels, including the Forum’s media partners: CNBC, Bloomberg, CCTV, and CNN.
The programme of the Forum was built around five thematic pillars:
- Sustaining Economic Expansionc
- Realizing the Economic Potential of Russia
- New Geo-Economic Dynamics
- Navigating Revolutions in Technology
- The Human Dimension
More than 600 speakers and moderators participated in discussions and debates at the Forum.
3. Leading participants
The Forum’s plenary sessions, roundtables, and briefings were attended by more than 40 leading Russian officials, including ministers and heads of federal agencies and services, and 60 leading foreign dignitaries, including: Prime Minister of Italy Matteo Renzi, President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev, President of Guinea Alpha Condé, Prime Minister of Malta Joseph Muscat, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker, Vice President of the Council of Ministers of Cuba Ricardo Cabrisas Ruíz, Vice President of Uruguay Raúl Sendic, Vice President of Ghana Kwesi Amissah-Arthur, Second Vice President of Burundi Joseph Butore, and Chairman of the Board of the Eurasian Economic Commission Tigran Sargsyan and others.
The Forum welcomed high-level delegations from Armenia, Burundi, Guyana, Ghana, Guinea, Italy, Kazakhstan, Luxembourg, Malta, China, Cuba, and Uruguay; 30 ministers from 22 foreign countries (Austria, Albania, Bangladesh, Bulgaria, Bolivia, Botswana, Burundi, Hungary, Venezuela, Ghana, Guinea, Egypt, India, Iran, Italy, Republic of the Congo, Lebanon, Palestine, Slovenia, Sudan, Finland, and Ecuador); the First Deputy Prime Minister of Belarus, the Deputy Prime Minister of Armenia, and 11 ministers from CIS member states (Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan), Abkhazia, and South Ossetia.
This year, the Forum was attended by more than 600 heads of Russian companies and approximately 300 foreign company executives.
4. Media representatives
SPIEF also recorded a high level of media interest: 2,651 media representatives (2,156 from Russia and 495 from abroad) from 700 organizations (542 Russian and 158 foreign) registered for the Forum. Applications to attend were received from 47 countries (in addition to Russia).
5. Forum partners
This year, 61 companies partnered with the Forum, including five General Partners (Sberbank of Russia, Rosneft, Vnesheconombank, Gazprom, and VTB Bank), one Strategic Partner (Rosseti), one Telecommunications Partner (MegaFon), one Knowledge Partner (PwC), one Business Networking Platform and Presentation Area Partner (EY), the Official Airline of the Forum (Aeroflot), and Official Car of the Forum (Mercedes-Benz Russia).
Many Russian and international companies showed a keen interest in partnering with the Forum as part of its business programme.
6. SPIEF venue
This year, SPIEF was held at a new venue, the ExpoForum Convention and Exhibition Centre, which is three times larger than the previous venue at around 100,000 square metres, with 66,000 metres comprising temporary structures. In addition to the traditional events on the conference part of the programme, participants at this year’s Forum had access to expanded marketing opportunities thanks to the additional exhibition space.
For the first time, the Forum included:
- the SPIEF Investment Projects exhibition;
- SPIEF Business Expo, an exhibition of products and services facilitating business operations
- Italy pavilion – Italy, SPIEF 2016’s guest country, hosted a pavilion showcasing its industrial potential, design, and culture. Previous guest countries at the Forum have included France, Spain, and the Netherlands.
- The new venue also offered more meeting rooms, networking areas, and stands.
7. Agreements
The number of agreements signed at the SPIEF continues to grow: 102 agreements in 2013, 175 in 2014, and 205 in 2015. This year, the Forum again saw record growth in the number of investment agreements signed.
A total of 356 official documents were signed at the Forum, including:
292 agreements
53 memoranda
6 roadmaps
2 programmes
2 contracts
1 technology transfer agreement
The total value of signed agreements not classed as confidential was RUB 1 trillion 46 million.
For more detailed information about the agreements signed at SPIEF 2016, please send a written request to the Roscongress Foundation by email to [email protected].