The St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF), whose theme is “Sovereign Development as the Foundation for a Just World,” held the second day of its four-day conference today, welcoming enthusiastic participants anxious to discuss the development-oriented topics of the many seminars scheduled for the day.
President Vladimir Putin will address SPIEF’s plenary session tomorrow, reported by Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov to be “lengthy,” followed by a discussion period. He is not participating in any other conference events.
Iranian ambassador to Russia, Kazem Jalall, commented to Sputnik on the high level of participation–18,000 guests from 34 countries. “It is impossible not to note the variety of discussion panels and important topics that are discussed here,” he said. “SPIEF is not only an economic platform, but also a political one…there is a closer and more direct building and establishment of economic partnership and strengthening of trade relations between countries; the most acute and important economic issues are being resolved…. This forum is important, very effective, and has a practical component in resolving a number of paramount international economic issues.”
