St. Petersburg International Economic Forum 2019

The SPIEF 2019 key topic was ‘Creating a Sustainable Development Agenda’. The sheer number of business community participants, variety of thematic events, and level of representation on both national and international levels underscore the status of SPIEF as a truly global economic forum. Over the years, SPIEF has become an open platform to exchange best practices and key competences in the interest of providing sustainable development. 

Moreover, the project now operates on a year-round basis. In addition to providing overviews of key discussion topics in the Roscongress Information and Analytical System, the Forum organizes over 100 events in Russia (‘Regions of Russia: New Points of Growth’), as well as worldwide events dedicated to both economics and humanities.   

During the past four years, the number of Forum participants grew by 60% and the upward trend will remain for years to come.

This year the Forum brought together a record-breaking number of participants: over 19,000 people from 145 countries, with 1,300 guests representing heads of companies. In 2019, for the first time SPIEF was attended by representatives from countries such as Andorra, Antigua and Barbuda, Côte d’Ivoire, Lesotho, Nepal, Niger, San Marino, Somalia, and Eswatini.

“Neither American nor European countries want to leave the Russian market and are highly unlikely to do so in the future. Trade wars that Washington wages combined with protectionist measures will only slow down the global economic growth. Against this background, I believe the European Union countries are starting to comprehend the mutual benefit of good neighbourly relations with Russia,” said Anton Kobyakov, Advisor to the President of the Russian Federation, Executive Secretary of the SPIEF Organizing Committee, at the concluding press conference.