Delegates from over 130 countries to attend St Petersburg Economic Forum

Russia will host the 27th annual St Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) 2024 starting on Wednesday. Thousands of participants are expected for the annual three-day event.

Interest in the forum is growing as more countries disregard Western pressure and engage more closely with Russia, according to Russian presidential adviser and Executive Secretary of the SPIEF Organizing Committee Anton Kobyakov.

SPIEF 2023 “clearly demonstrated that, despite the turbulence in the global economy, many countries are ready to build bridges of understanding and cooperation,” Kobyakov remarked, following the success of last year's event.

This year the forum will bring together delegates from 136 countries, including Abkhazia, Azerbaijan, Brazil, Venezuela, India, Kazakhstan and China. Oman will be the guest country, Russian presidential aide Yury Ushakov told reporters.

Zimbabwe’s President Emmerson Mnangagwa, Bolivian President Luis Arce and President Milorad Dodik of Republika Srpska will be among the foreign leaders at the event.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is expected to address the forum’s plenary session. Putin will review the state of affairs in the national and global economy, as well as selected political issues, including the Ukraine conflict, according to Ushakov.

The SPIEF 2024 theme is ‘The Foundations of a Multipolar World - The Formation of New Areas of Growth.’

The forum’s program lists almost 400 business events, such as panel discussions and business dialogues, including EAEU-ASEAN, Russia-Africa, Russia-Latin America, Russia-China, Russia-South Africa, and other bilateral meetings.

SPIEF has been held in St Petersburg since 1997, and under the auspices of the Russian President since 2006. Over 17,000 participants from 130 countries took part in the SPIEF 2023 events, with more than 900 agreements signed, according to the forum’s official website.

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