Russia – Italy “guest country” at St. Petersburg Economic Forum

Italy will be the ‘guest country’ at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, which will pool together the major representatives of Russian and international business from June 16 to 18. The event will be attended by President Vladimir Putin and dignitaries of the Federation’s Administration. Italy will be represented by Prime Minister Matteo Renzi. The Italian Embassy in Moscow has ensured the participation of major firms, doing the utmost to promote Italy’s economic interests in the Federation. In order to exhibit the Italian technologies and know-how that might be of interest for the diversification of Russian economy, Roscongress – the organiser of the Forum – has assigned the task of setting up the “Italia in Russia” Pavilion to its long-time Italian partner, the Association “Conoscere Eurasia”. This pavilion is being set up together with Fiera Milano and will be organised into five thematic clusters: mechanics/high technology, energy, agro-industry, infrastructure and finance. President Putin sent a message to all the participants in the 20^th edition of the Forum, underlining, among other things, that “year after year the event has gained popularity and influence. Meetings, round tables and panels focus on the most topical issues. This event offers politicians, executives and Russian and international dignitaries a platform to share best practices and propose solutions on a broad range of subjects, ranging from economics, finance to trade and investments”. President Putin also mentioned that this year’s theme will be “Capitalising on the New Global Economic Reality”. The head of the Russian Federation recalled that the programme includes a Business Forum of the BRICS and SCO, as well as meetings with official delegations from Russia, Kazakhstan, Italy and other countries. There will be also a special session of the Valdai Club, a forum of Russian SMEs and a conference exclusively devoted to the Arctic.