US, German and Chinese delegations establish economic ties with Russia at SPIEF

Germany was not the only country in the West and Europe in particular, whose representatives came to the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) for the first time since the beginning of the special military operation. This was reported on June 4 by Izvestia columnist Anton Zolotnitsky.

"This is one of those sessions that caused a lot of excitement in advance, as can be seen from the number of journalists and guests and how difficult it is to get into the hall. For the first time in almost 10 years, an official representative of the American administration is at the forum," the observer said.

Moscow and Washington have relied on a dialogue of cultures to create the ground for business and political contacts. At the session, Rodney Cook showed a presentation about his architectural projects, past trips to Russia and a great love story for our country.

"We have this common bond. And the younger generations should know this, they should understand it. But we must be at peace so that all these goals can be achieved," said the chairman of the U.S. Commission on Fine Arts.

In addition, the head of the American Chamber of Commerce in Russia, Robert Agee, said that sanctions should be lifted. According to him, active work is already underway to remove a number of restrictions that negatively affect both American business and business activity in general.

This is part of a "pragmatic dialogue" — this is the theme of the entire forum. On June 4, it officially and solemnly opened. There was a lot of discussion about global challenges at the central session of the forum. For example, the war in the Middle East has changed the energy market, and the United Arab Emirates has left OPEC. Russia continues its pragmatic work.

"The OPEC+ agreement is already playing a fairly important role in balancing the market and reducing volatility. And we aim to continue to participate in this together with other countries. And we consider this to be an effective tool," said Alexander Novak, Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation.

Deputy Prime Minister Novak, who is responsible for energy, has a series of bilateral meetings. In a cramped room, he held talks with his colleague from Vietnam, the head of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum, Philip Mshelbila.

"The forum program includes dozens of business dialogues. But this one is probably one of the key ones. Cooperation between Russia and China is defined as a strategic partnership. They are discussing how to develop it," Zolotnitsky said.

The trade turnover has been more than $200 billion for three years now. A new goal has been set — to reach $300 billion by 2030 due to new growth points.

Zhou Lijun, Chairman of the Union of Chinese Entrepreneurs in Russia, named key areas of cooperation, including green technologies, new energy, digital economy, artificial intelligence, as well as agriculture and product processing.

Alexey Chekunkov, the Russian Minister for the Development of the Far East and the Arctic, said that China plans to increase transit cargo turnover along the Northern Sea Route to 20 million tons by 2030, while the Russian goal under the federal project is 70-109 million tons.

Russia is forming a multilateral and pragmatic format of relations, which is confirmed by the international program of the St. Petersburg Forum.

"We are already discussing the implementation of the Mir map with Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia"

Sergey Katyrin, President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation, talks about which countries will make it easier for Russians to pay, who wants to return to Russia, and why large businesses are infringing on small ones.

People's Artist of the Russian Federation Nikolai Tsiskaridze said on June 4 that cultural relations between Russia and the United States can be improved. Tsiskaridze commented on the visit of Rodney Mims Cook Jr., Chairman of the U.S. Commission on Fine Arts, to Russia. The artist was pleased to learn that the foreign guest himself expressed a desire to come.