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SME Forum Business Programme Architecture Published

SME Forum Business Programme Architecture Published

Traditionally, the opening day of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum will host the Russian Small and Medium-sized Enterprises Forum. The event organized by the Roscongress Foundation and OPORA RUSSIA will be held on 15 June. The business programme of the SME Forum covers a wide range of issues related to the support and development of small business in the country.

In particular, the sidelines of the Forum will see discussions on business protection, educational block of SMEs, modern standards of small-scale trade and consumer cooperation, new vectors of foreign economic activity and IT-solutions for SMEs, development of self-employment, and artificial intelligence.

"Small and medium business is an integral component of the economy. The country's well-being largely depends on how timely and effective the support measures for these businesses are today. Our long-term task is to integrate accelerator programmes as much as possible to stimulate the development of small and medium-sized business," said Anton Kobyakov, Advisor to the President of the Russian Federation.

Additionally, the Forum will include a discussion on the availability of small business financing in terms of rates, conditions, and preferential programmes for the SME sector.

Separate discussions will be devoted to the search for new points of growth in the manufacturing business and the quest for opinion leaders for the new times, development of domestic tourism and social entrepreneurship under the current conditions, government procurement as potential driver for small and medium business, and how the ‘My Business’ initiative has become a catalyst for positive changes for the field.

"New SME strategy" was chosen as a motto for the Forum’s plenary session. "Traditionally, the main economic Forum of the country begins with a discussion dedicated to the key issues of small and medium-sized businesses. Russian Forum of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises, co-organized by OPORA RUSSIA launches the main event for the seventh time. The Forum grounds are annually visited by more than a thousand people, who passionately discuss key issues of concern to small business. The Forum is attended by OPORA RUSSIA entrepreneurs from all regions of our country to develop joint solutions, which subsequently lay down the legislative acts adopted in the government. This year is challenging for all businesses with a major restructuring of the economy and all its processes in general. So, it is especially important to conduct a broad, open dialogue between business and government to look for new sectors and points of growth, to work in the new environment, to talk about the opportunities and challenges for business, to work together to develop additional measures of support for the SME sector. The topics of the sessions are very practical in nature. We plan to discuss the possibilities for further development in various business areas. Another urgent issue is the question of changing the paradigm in relation to the strategy of small business development, its role in our country. The latter topic will be addressed at the plenary session of the Forum, where together with representatives of the government, business community, and development institutions we will discuss all the proposals," noted Alexander Kalinin, President of OPORA RUSSIA.

 

 

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