About the Forum

St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF)

The St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) is a unique event in the world of business and economics. SPIEF has been held since 1997, and since 2006, it has been held under the auspices of the President of the Russian Federation, who has also attended each event.

Over the last 24 years, the Forum has become a leading global platform for members of the business community to meet and discuss the key economic issues facing Russia, emerging markets, and the world as a whole.

The 28th St. Petersburg International Economic Forum is set to take place on 18–21 June 2025.

 

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Vladimir Putin, President of the Russian Federation

“Such major events and forums truly unite and bring people from different countries closer. The ability to meet in person and work together in an atmosphere of mutual trust is, in many respects, what is key to pushing business projects and initiatives forward, and with it, the global economy.

Russia will facilitate these meetings to the greatest extent possible, and similarly facilitate the sharing of experience and the demonstration of groundbreaking accomplishments in science and technology.”

SPIEF 2021 plenary session

Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, Emir of Qatar

“[Today’s unprecedented challenges] only serve to increase the importance of the Forum, which has become a key international economic event. It also serves as an example for the international community with regard to advancing initiatives capable of fostering an environment conducive to regional and global economic growth, increased investment, and developing effecting solutions to shared economic issues.”

SPIEF 2021 plenary session

Jair Bolsonaro, President of Brazil 2019–2022

“The St. Petersburg Forum is a kind of geopolitical and geo-economic sounding board for the whole of Eurasia, a strategically important region which is constantly developing and finds itself at the epicentre of major transformations in today’s world.”

SPIEF 2021 plenary session

Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India

“First, I would like to thank President Putin for giving me the opportunity to attend such an important Forum in St. Petersburg. President Putin’s hometown is a very beautiful place, and its people are very hospitable.”

SPIEF 2017 plenary session

Xi Jinping, President of the People’s Republic of China

“Since its inception in 1997, the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum has continued to develop and strengthen, growing to become a unique platform facilitating a broad range of discussions in the interests of cooperation. This year’s forum in St. Petersburg is being held under the theme ‘Creating a Sustainable Development Agenda’, which addresses the concerns of the international community and is of great importance.”

SPIEF 2019 plenary session

Félix Tshisekedi, President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Chairperson of the African Union in 2021

“First of all, I would like to thank the President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, for involving Africa through the Democratic Republic of Congo in this most important forum, aimed at promoting dialogue on global economic challenges. […] The world we live in is increasingly becoming akin to a unified global village. For the last 16 months, humanity has been united in fighting the coronavirus pandemic. This experience shows that we can only move forward through combined efforts. Humanity is expecting joint efforts from world leaders in the fight against political, socio-economic and public health challenges.”

António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations (UN)

“St. Petersburg has witnessed many of the seminal events of the 20th century. And today, the St. Petersburg Forum espouses a 21st century truth – that global challenges require global solutions. No one country or organization can succeed alone. We need political leaders, scientists, philanthropists, and civil society to come together to tackle common threats and pursue shared objectives.”

SPIEF 2019 plenary session

Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, President of the Republic of Kazakhstan

“Over a quarter of a century, the St. Petersburg forum has earned its status as an authoritative expert platform and has taken its rightful place among the world’s leading discussion venues… I am confident that this authoritative discussion platform, which brings together top-level experts, has huge potential in identifying productive ideas to normalize the international situation and bring positive trends back to the global economy.”

Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, President of Egypt

“Since its first session in 1997, the Forum has grown to become an important venue for the business community and a prominent economic event facilitating the discussion of key issues facing emerging markets and the rest of the world.”

Abdelmadjid Tebboune, President of Algeria

“This Forum is a significant and high-profile event throughout the entire world, and its role is now increasing in view of the multiplying and accumulating challenges many countries are dealing with. These challenges require the coordinated efforts of the entire international community to find solutions to the problems facing humankind."

1997–2002

Milos Zeman
President of the Czech Republic

Alexander Lukashenko
President of the Republic of Belarus

2003–2008

Dmitry Medvedev
President of the Russian Federation 2008–2012

Vladimir Putin
President of Russian Federation

Ilham Aliyev
President of Azerbaijan

Kurman Bakiev
President of Kyrgyzstan

Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov
President of Turkmenistan

Vladimir Voronin
President of Moldova

Islam Karimov
President of the Republic of Uzbekistan

Alexander Lukashenko
President of the Republic of Belarus

Nursultan Nazarbayev
President of Kazakhstan

Emomali Rahmon
President of Tajikistan

Robert Kocharyan
President of Armenia

Mikhail Saakashvili
President of Georgia

Serzh Sargsyan
President of Armenia

Jens Stoltenberg
Prime Minister of Norway

Vasile Tarlev
Prime Minister of Moldova

Branko Crvenkovski
President of Macedonia

Viktor Yushchenko
President of Ukraine

Viktor Yanukovych
Prime Minister of Ukraine

2009–2014

Dmitry Medvedev
President of the Russian Federation 2008–2012

Vladimir Putin
President of Russian Federation

Ilham Aliyev
President of Azerbaijan

Norovyn Altankhuyag
Prime Minister of Mongolia

Almazbek Atambayev
President of Kyrgyzstan

Nikola Gruevski
Prime Minister of Macedonia

Gjorge Ivanov
President of Macedonia

Gloria Macapagal Arroyo
President of the Philippines

Angela Merkel
Chancellor of Germany

Nursultan Nazarbayev
President of Kazakhstan

Sauli Niinisto
President of Finland

Raila Odinga
Prime Minister of Kenya

Borut Pahor
Prime Minister of Slovenia

Mahinda Rajapaksa
President of Sri Lanka

Mark Rutte
Prime Minister of the Netherlands

Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero
Prime Minister of Spain

Serzh Sargsyan
President of Armenia

Nicolas Sarkozy
President of France

Tarja Halonen
President of Finland

Hu Jintao
President of the People's Republic of China

Sergei Shamba
Prime Minister of Abkhazia

Nikola Spiric
Chairman of the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina

2015–2023

Vladimir Putin
President of Russian Federation

Almazbek Atambayev
President of Kyrgyzstan

Valeriy Bganba
Prime Minister of Abkhazia

Gennadiy Bekoev
Chairman of the Government of the Republic of South Ossetia

Anatoliy Bibilov
President of South Ossetia

Gaston Browne
Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda

Igor Dodon
President of Moldova

Emmanuel Issoze-Ngondet
Prime Minister of Gabon

Christian Kern
Chancellor of Austria

Alpha Condé
President of Guinea

Emmanuel Macron
President of French Republic

Artur Mikvabia
Prime Minister of Abkhazia

Narendra Modi
Prime Minister of India

Joseph Muscat
Prime Minister of Malta

Nursultan Nazarbayev
President of Kazakhstan

Edouard Ngirente
Prime Minister of the Republic of Rwanda

Firmin Ngrebada
Prime Minister of the Central African Republic

Nuno Gomes Nabiam
Prime Minister of the Republic of Guinea-Bissau

Nikol Pashinyan
Prime Minister of Armenia

Peter Pellegrini
Prime Minister of the Slovak Republic

Erik Pukhaev
Chairman of the Government of the Republic of South Ossetia

Rumen Radev
President of the Republic of Bulgaria

Matteo Renzi
Prime Minister of Italy

Abe Shinzo
Prime Minister of Japan

Roosevelt Skerrit
Prime Minister of Dominica

Faustin Archange Touadera
President of Central African Republic

Xi Jinping
President of the People's Republic of China

Alexis Tsipras
Prime Minister of Greece

Chimediin Saikhanbileg
Prime Minister of Mongolia

Felix Tshisekedi
President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Jargaltulgyn Erdenebat
Prime Minister of Mongolia

Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan
President of the United Arab Emirates

Kassym-Jomart Tokayev
President of the Republic of Kazakhstan

Abdel Fattah El-Sisi
President of Egypt

Abdelmadjid Tebboune
President of Algeria

The 27th St. Petersburg International Economic Forum took place on 5–8 June 2024 and brought together leaders of major Russian and global companies, as well as representatives of government agencies and the political and scientific community to establish business contacts, find new partners, discuss promising projects, and exchange opinions on current political and economic trends on global and regional markets.

This year, the Forum events were attended by 21,800 people from 139 countries and territories. The freedom of various world powers to choose their own political and economic affiliation was confirmed by the SPIEF 2024 slogan: ‘The Formation of New Areas of Growth as the Cornerstone of a Multipolar World’. The Forum resulted in the signing of 1,073 agreements valued at RUB 6.492 trillion (this figure only includes agreements whose amount is not a commercial secret), including 55 with representatives of international companies.

PARTICIPANTS

The SPIEF 2024 broke its previous records in terms of the number of participants. More than 120 high-ranking foreign officials took part in the Forum events, including heads of international organizations and associations, diplomatic missions, and foreign cities and regions, as well as ministers of foreign affairs. The largest delegations came from China with 192 participants, the UAE – 105, Zimbabwe – 86, Kazakhstan – 84, India – 80, and Oman – 75. From the Russian side, the Forum was attended by 40 high-ranking officials, 30 heads of federal services and agencies, and 81 heads of Russia’s regions.

More than 8,300 representatives of Russian and foreign businesses took part in the Forum. Foreign businesses were represented at the Forum by over 480 companies from 94 countries and territories, while Russian businesses were represented by over 3,300 companies. The unprecedented interest from domestic and foreign media outlets is evidenced by the number of journalists who covered the Forum events: more than 4,216 people from 34 countries.

GUEST COUNTRY

This year, the Sultanate of Oman had the honorary status of guest country at the SPIEF. The country’s delegation was headed by Oman Minister of Commerce, Industry, and Investment Promotion Qais bin Mohammed Al-Yousef. Oman took part in the Forum with the aim of studying opportunities for the implementation of joint projects in such promising areas of interstate cooperation as industry, energy, tourism, science and technology, logistics, and food security. Members of the extensive Omani delegation, which included businessmen, diplomats, and officials, confirmed their desire to “cooperate with Russian enterprises and see more tourists in their country.”

PLENARY SESSION

The key event of the Forum was the plenary session, which featured speeches by Russian President Vladimir Putin, Bolivian President Luis Alberto Arce Catacora and Zimbabwean President Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa.

In his speech, Vladimir Putin spoke about structural changes that will be actively supported by the government, the achievements made in the Russian economy, existing problems in the country and around the world, and a wide range of geopolitical issues, including themes related to BRICS. The leaders of Bolivia and Zimbabwe reported about issues on the current international agenda.

BUSINESS PROGRAMME

The business programme featured numerous sessions as part of four thematic pillars: ‘Goals and Objectives of Russia’s New Economic Cycle’, ‘The Transition to a Multipolar World Economy’, ‘Technologies for Leadership’, and ‘A Healthy Society, Traditional Values and Social Development: The Priority of the State’.

The main theme of this year’s programme was national sovereignty in political, economic, and cultural relations. Most of the discussions concerned economic priorities, opportunities for trade, technological, scientific, and industrial cooperation, financial culture as a driver of economic development, digital e-commerce, banking services, global food security amidst the economic restrictions imposed by countries of the collective West, and other economic-related areas.

INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION

The Forum’s Russian and foreign guests were actively involved in such events as the Russian-African Conference ‘Water: More Precious than Gold’, the EAEU–ASEAN session, and business dialogues with representatives of Azerbaijan, Brazil, Venezuela, India, Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Oman, South Africa, African, and Latin American countries.

The Forum participants paid particular attention to new opportunities for trade and economic cooperation between BRICS countries given the organization’s planned expansion. Experts noted that BRICS members already account for more than a third of the global economy today and discussed ways to build an independent system of international financial transactions and promising transport corridors, cooperate in matters concerning the digital economy, and much more.

CULTURAL PROGRAMME

The programme of the St. Petersburg Seasons Festival at SPIEF 2024 included more than 40 events. Leading cultural institutions of St. Petersburg prepared extravagant programmes, unique sightseeing tours, film screenings, and exhibitions especially for the Forum’s guests and participants. A unique exhibition was opened to mark the 225th anniversary of Alexander Pushkin’s birth at the ExpoForum, the SPIEF venue. The Forum’s participants and guests were presented with the poet’s drawings and handwritten lines from the poem ‘The Miserly Knight’.

SPORTS PROGRAMME

The SPIEF 2024 Sport Games featured more than 20 events in 18 sports. Athletes from ten countries took part in tournaments as part of the Forum, including such international events as the Igor Chentsov sailing regatta, the Gold of Ladoga multi-day cycling race, and the Loko Cup club judo tournament. The country’s best boxers took part in the super final of the Victory Cup boxing tournament. The ‘Towards the Friendship Games’ run was attended by roughly 1,600 people, including representatives of the UAE delegation headed by Minister of Economy Abdulla bin Touq Al Marri.

Legal entities and individuals registered in the Russian Federation or abroad who have contributed to the organization and preparation of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum are eligible to become SPIEF partners. This contribution may take the form of material, financial, technical, or other support, by agreement with the Forum organizers and in accordance with the terms of a signed agreement.

Being a partner provides unparalleled business promotion opportunities at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.

If you are interested in becoming a partner of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, please send an email to partners@roscongress.org or fill in an application form in the Become a partner section of our website. 

The St. Petersburg International Economic Forum will host the SPIEF Investment & Business Expo – a unique space for creating constructive dialogue, seeking solutions, joining forces, and sharing experience among Forum participants.

The exhibition will run throughout the Forum, and will be open to all participants.

For more detailed information on the SPIEF Expo, see the Exhibition section of the website.

The Roscongress Information and Analytical System is a unique Roscongress Foundation knowledge base.

The Roscongress Information and Analytical System takes best practices from global development institutions and combines them with Russian information analysis tools to provide quick and easy access to all resources related to major business events in Russia that are organized by the Roscongress Foundation.

Features of the interactive knowledge base:

  • Descriptions of more than 2000 sessions across 271 topics covering global and national development

  • Talks, interviews, and insights from more than 8,500 speakers

  • Research studies, articles, analytical digests, and expert opinions

roscongress.org

The Roscongress Foundation carries out active expert and analytical work, which currently involves over 5,000 professionals in Russia and abroad.

As part of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, experts of the ROSCONGRESS.ORG Information and Analytical System have prepared analytical materials on the most crucial areas of the Forum's agenda.

SUMMARIES

About 120 analytical summaries – brief overviews and abstracts of key discussions describing the conclusions, objectives, and solutions have been compiled following the results of SPIEF 2023.
All texts are available in the Information and Analytical System in the ‘Programme’ and ‘List of sessions’ sections.

OUTSTANDING QUOTES

A collection of quotes from SPIEF 2023 participants that quickly and clearly reflect the core themes on the event agenda. Quotes can be arranged by session themes and the author of the statement in the 'Analytics/Expert opinion' section.

EXPERT CONSULTING

An extensive exploration of topics that have generated significant public interest, along with a systemic analysis of technologies, implemented projects, and the most staggering innovations.

RESEARCH ARTICLES

Contact information: expert@roscongress.org

INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANALYTICS

Ways of international cooperation in mutually beneficial logistics of supply chains and trade turnover, the possibility of transforming human capital into national welfare, new effective economic models of the regional unions' growth.

GLOBALIZATION / REGIONALIZATION DEMOGRAPHICS ECONOMIC PROGRESS

DESCRIPTIVE AND PRESCRIPTIVE ANALYTICS

The quantitative and qualitative basis of future insights.

OUTCOMES OF SPIEF 2023 RESULTS OF THE SURVEY OF PARTICIPANTS OF SPIEF 2023 KEY TRENDS IN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION IN 2023

DIGESTS

The profound expertise of the Roscongress Foundation specialists and established pool of partners in expert and analytical work enables the regular production of analytical digests 'Roscongress Insider' on the agenda of major business events organized by the Foundation.

BUSINESS DIALOGUES

Russia and the United Arab Emirates: Potential for Growth and Cooperation

Core points of cooperation between Russia and the UAE, SPIEF 2023 guest country.

Russia and the UAE: Ways of Technological Cooperation

A detailed report on the state and prospects of development of cooperation between Russia and the UAE in a wide range of technological industries.

RUSSIAN ECONOMY: FROM ADAPTATION TO GROWTH

Regional development trends – 2023

Trends, directions, and development tools of Russian regions in 2023.

Sovereignty as a path to prosperity

A survey of SPIEF 2023 participants and interviews with experts on the topic of Russia's economic sovereignty.

LABOUR MARKET: RESPONDING TO NEW CHALLENGES


Since 2016 the main events of SPIEF take place at the ExpoForum Convention and Exhibition Centre.

ExpoForum is a modern convention and exhibition centre that meets the standards of the Global Association of the Exhibition Industry (UFI).

For more information on the Forum venue, see the Forum venue section of our website. For detailed information about the geography, history, and key landmarks of St. Petersburg, see the About St. Petersburg section of our website.