Russian President Vladimir Putin will attend the 26th St. Petersburg International Economic Forum. The theme of the Forum is "Sovereign Development as the Basis of a Just World: Joining Forces for Future Generations".
Traditionally, the head of state will make a keynote speech at the forum's plenary session. However, according to his press secretary Dmitry Peskov, this time Putin's participation at SPIEF will be limited to the event.
As Yuri Ushakov, the presidential advisor on foreign policy, earlier said, officials from more than 15 states are participating in the 2023 forum. "Among the most notable guests is Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune, who is paying a state visit to Russia these days," the Kremlin spokesman said.
In his words, the Algerian president will join Putin at the main plenary session of the forum on June 16, and both will address the forum and take part in the discussion and answer questions. "The president of Russia and the president of Algeria will be at the podium at the main plenary session this year," Ushakov specified.
For his part, Peskov said that the plenary session would begin at 14:00 Moscow time. "The president is preparing to take part in the SPIEF plenary session, which will take place on Friday. There will be a big speech by the president, then a discussion," he announced. "At the very least we can predict a very voluminous speech from the head of state. Indeed, a rather large speech was prepared," Peskov added.
The Kremlin spokesman clarified that "first of all, an assessment of the economy for the past year should be expected." "This is the most important thing. You know that the president always prefers to give such a detailed assessment at the forum and will probably outline the main prospects," he said.
Foreign guests
Ushakov drew attention to the fact that the SPIEF is held annually under the auspices of the Russian president. "It brings together world leaders and heads of major Russian and foreign companies, banks, leading experts, representatives of science, media, and civil society," he said. "This year will also see extensive participation of foreign guests," the Kremlin spokesman said. He specified that Armenian President Vahagn Khachaturyan, South Ossetian President Alan Gagloyev, Cuban Prime Minister Manuel Marrero, and Chairman of Kyrgyzstan's Cabinet of Ministers Akylbek Zhaparov will be in St. Petersburg. In addition, the forum will be attended by deputy prime ministers, ministers, governors, senators, diplomats from several countries, heads of international organizations and associations. The United Arab Emirates is the guest country of the SPIEF in 2023.
This time the work on the SPIEF platforms is focused on five main topics: "The World Economy at a Global Turning Point," "The Russian Economy - Adapting to Growth," "Building Technological Sovereignty," "The Labor Market - A Response to New Challenges," and "Protecting the Population and Quality of Life as the Main Priority."
"We're used to impressing each other with numbers, but I'll refrain from doing that," the aide said. He explained that data on the number of participants are reported by the organizers. "It seems to me that it is better to sum up the results of international participation after the events," he noted.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: official website of the President of the Russian Federation
Based on materials from TASS