SPIEF-2024
The annual St. Petersburg International Economic Forum will take place from 5 to 8 June 2024. The forum annually attracts economic leaders from different countries, and states resolve geopolitical issues and plan the vector of economic development for the years ahead. For many years, Western countries absorbed energy resources from the Russian Federation, preventing the economies of developing countries from accessing the Russian market of affordable energy, which did not allow them to receive additional incentives for economic growth. But today everything has changed, and what was intended to kill the Russian economy has given the world new economic incentives. The Russian economy quickly integrated into the structure of the countries of the global South and ensured growth for many years to come. What seemed impossible yesterday has become our reality today, because after energy, rapid growth began in other areas, such as agriculture, IT, engineering, mining and others.
Cooperation between India and Russia has been built over decades, and our countries have always come to each other's aid in the most difficult situations. Thus, since the beginning of the sanctions pressure on the Russian Federation, trade turnover between the countries increased from 11 billion $ in 2021 up to 65 billion $ in 2023. A 6-fold increase in trade turnover allowed India to become one of the largest producers of petroleum products in the world, and Russian agricultural companies strengthened the country's food security. Russia became the main supplier of coal to the growing metallurgical industry, and India helped Russia avoid a decline in coal production. Thus, the volume of coal supplies from the Russian Federation to India increased by 3.5 times compared to 2021. India and the Russian Federation, in order to develop new trade and logistics routes, are actively developing the North-South transport corridor, which will strengthen and secure trade in the region by reducing dependence on third countries. The country is actively investing in real production and carrying out technological exchange. The economies of India and the Russian Federation are deeply integrated, which creates a solid foundation for many years to come.
An important area of bilateral cooperation is work in the educational field, so today Russia is ready to meet the growing demand for medical education for Indian students. One of the market leaders, Apex Consultants, has concluded agreements with more than 20 Russian medical universities in just a year and plans to send up to 5,000 students per year. Education helps to build new socio-economic ties for many years, which guarantees only an increasing trend in our relationships in the future.
Within the framework of the forum, it is planned to sign both state agreements and agreements at the level of regions and private companies. This year we are seeing a transition to a new level of cooperation, when agreements between regions and private businesses provide new impetus for development, which will help increase business activity for small and medium-sized businesses, which was previously very rare.
