SPIEF - INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

News: At 'Russian Davos' Putin praises ‘economic resilience’, seeks alternative partnerships

 

What's in the news?

       At the 26th edition of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF), held last week in Russia’s second-largest city and former imperial capital, the Kremlin made its message clear to the entire world: the economy is holding up despite unprecedented Western sanctions.

 

Key takeaways:

       This year’s “wartime” SPIEF turned out less international and lavish than its past editions, for obvious reasons.

       Over 17,000 people from 130 countries, including high-ranking officials from the UAE, Algeria, Armenia, Cuba and delegations from China, India and Brazil.

 

SPIEF (Russian Davos):

       St. Petersburg International Economic Forum is Russia’s annual investment gathering.

       The SPIEF used to be called “Russian Davos” as it was probably the only such elite gathering of global business community leaders in this part of the world.

 

Held at: Kremlin

 

Theme: “Sovereign Development as the Basis of a Just World: Joining Forces for Future Generations”

 

High level gatherings:

       At different times, Russian President Vladimir Putin had shared the stage with different world leaders including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Federal Chancellor of Austria Christian Kern, and President of Moldova Igor Dodon (2017); French President Emmanuel Macron and Prime Minister of Japan Shinzo Abe (2018); Chinese President Xi Jinping, President of Bulgaria Rumen Radev and Prime Ministers of Armenia and Slovakia Nikol Pashinyan and Peter Pellegrini as well as UN Secretary-General António Guterres (2019).