The St. Petersburg International Economic Forum is the largest event in the field of business and economics, which has been held annually in St. Petersburg since 1997.
The St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (PEMF) is tacitly called the "Russian Davos". Every year PEMF is held with the participation of the President of the Russian Federation and brings together more than 2500 leading politicians, businessmen, scientists, public representatives and journalists from all over the world. Traditionally, the event lasts three days. The forum discusses the most pressing issues facing Russia and the entire world community.
Every year the status of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum is growing, as is the number of those wishing to take part in it. For business representatives, SPIEF provides an opportunity not only to receive up-to-date information at first hand and discuss the most important issues, but entrepreneurs also get the opportunity to conclude profitable deals. Thus, in 2011, 68 agreements worth 338 billion rubles were signed at the forum, in 2012 the number of agreements increased to 84, and the total amount of transactions - up to 360 billion rubles.
SPIEF organizers pay attention not only to the business part of the program, but also to the cultural one. Most of these events are held exclusively for forum participants, but there are exceptions. For example, an open concert on Palace Square in St. Petersburg, in which famous foreign artists take part.
In 2012, SPIEF was held from June 21 to 23 under the motto “Effective Leadership”. The event was attended by over five thousand people. Among them are 290 representatives of official delegations from 77 countries of the world, 1018 representatives of Russian business and 942 representatives of foreign business, 157 heads of major foreign and 447 Russian companies. The main topic of SPIEF 2012 was issues related to minimizing the consequences of the global economic crisis and preventing a new wave of it.