Russian Investment Forum Releases Expanded Business Programme

The expanded business programme of the Russian Investment Forum 2022 has been published on the event’s official website: rusinvestforum.org. The Forum will take place on 16–19 February 2022 at the Sirius federal territory. The key theme of the event is ‘Achieving the National Goals as a Response to Global Challenges’.

«The pillars of the Forum’s business programme correspond to the themes of the five national development goals, whose achievement largely depends on the effective work of the regions of the Russian Federation. The expert discussions aim to work out practical proposals, search for new effective methods of collaboration between business and government, and present the best investment projects in the regions,» Adviser to the President of the Russian Federation and Executive Secretary of the Russian Investment Forum’s Organizing Committee Anton Kobyakov said.

«The Russian Investment Forum is a key platform for presenting the best practices and initiatives that are being implemented at the Russian regional level. Some of the projects that will be presented at the Forum were selected by the deputy prime ministers as part of the institution of supervisory responsibility of the federal districts. The most effective practices that must be implemented to directly contribute to the achievement of the national goals need to be scaled up to other regions,» Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation and Chairman of the Russian Investment Forum’s Organizing Committee Dmitry Chernyshenko said.

The sessions in the ‘Population, Health, and Wellbeing’ pillar will focus on the development of modern a healthcare system, demographic policy, a barrier-free environment as well as population migration during the pandemic.

The thematic pillar ‘Opportunities for Personal Fulfilment and Talent Development’ includes the sessions ‘The Workforce of the Future’, ‘Creative Industries at the Heart of the New Regional Economy’, and ‘Searching for Investment: Young People and Startup Capital’, among others. During the session ‘Development Institutions as Tools for Achieving the National Development Goals’, experts will discuss reforms that were carried out at development institutions to optimize their work and enhance their efficiency as well as assess their contribution to achieving the national development goals.

The third thematic pillar of the Forum’s business programme, ‘Decent, Productive Work and Successful Entrepreneurship’, encompasses a wide range of issues, such as supporting business, enhancing the investment appeal of the regions, and developing entrepreneurship. During the discussion ‘Regional Investment Standard 2.0’, experts will present the initial results of a project with the same name that is being implemented in certain pilot regions. The new regional standard is based on the best practices that the regions follow when working with investors. These practices are configured in such a way that all the regions meet a minimum set of requirements for attracting an investor.

The ‘Comfortable and Safe Living Environment’ pillar of the business programme features nine expert sessions, including: ‘Transforming Business with ESG’, ‘The Low-Carbon Economy: Where Do We Go from Here?’, ‘How the Pandemic Has Affected Urban Development’, and ‘How the Sharing Economy Benefits the Urban Environment’, among others. Representatives of the Sakhalin Region will share its plans for an experiment it is implementing to create the first carbon trading system in Russia. The region will conduct an inventory of greenhouse gas emissions and absorptions, establish emission quotas, and introduce extensive carbon reporting. The regionplans to achieve carbon neutrality by 2025.

The fifth thematic pillar is ‘Digital Transformation’, which will feature expert discussions on artificial intelligence, digital inequality, and cybersecurity. The session participants will discuss how to attract and retain technology startups, the role of the regions in building national information systems, and issues concerning ethics and trust in the digital environment.

The following events will be held on 16 February, the opening day of the Russian Investment Forum: the Healthy Life Forum, the Creative Business Forum, the Youth Entrepreneurship Forum as well as a special youth section called Point Junior. The business programmes of these events will focus on achieving the key targets of the national goals that have been set for the period up to 2030.