Emirati officials travel to Russia to take part in the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum
The St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) has just ended and has given a glimpse of Russia's good relations with the countries that have participated in the congress. One of them was the United Arab Emirates, as delegations from the nation travelled to St Petersburg to attend the event.
The Gulf states' top representative was Sultan Omar bin Al Olama, Secretary of State for Artificial Intelligence, Digital Economy and Telework Applications. The Emirati delegate was speaking at a conference during the forum where he highlighted the good relationship between his country and Russia. According to Al Olama, the two nations have a common bond that makes them great partners. He added that ties should continue to be strengthened in order to achieve greater and better joint cooperation in the economic sector.
In this way, Al Olama assured that the development goals of both peoples will be met with great expectations and will lead to the citizens of the two countries improving their quality of life and guaranteeing them a prosperous future, without lack of monetary resources.
The secretary concluded his speech by signing a memorandum of understanding to organise the UAE's participation in the 2023 forum. Al Olama said that his country wants to be the guest of honour at the next edition, noting that thanks to the SPIEF, both Russia and the UAE have been able to come closer together to further develop trade and investment between the two countries.
During the days of the congress, Al Olama was able to get closer to the country's delegations in order to further strengthen their friendship. The Secretary held a meeting with a number of Russian ministers and officials, where he discussed growth prospects for joint cooperation in the coming years. However, he also discussed with delegations from other countries participating in the event to seek new economic ties that will contribute to the betterment of the Emirates.
Al Olama signed a memorandum of understanding under the framework of developing trade cooperation between the UAE and the member states of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU). Thanks to these, the Emirati nation and the institution aim to expand the number of their trade exchanges and explore new avenues that contribute to the development of commercial activity.
"We express our gratitude to the Emirati side for the high pace and quality of our joint work. I believe that the decisions taken today will contribute to increasing trade and economic cooperation between the EAEU and the UAE," said Mikhail Myasnikovich, Chairman of the EAEC (Eurasian Economic Commission) Board of Directors. For him, the UAE is one of the most promising partners and ensures good trade and economic cooperation.
This new agreement aims to work on specific areas of trade such as customs, financial markets, transport, agro-industry, industries, intellectual property, communication and information technologies and digital economic transformation.
Thus ends the 25th edition of the SPIEF, the most important economic forum held in Russia and this year it is resuming after the break of last year's edition due to COVID-19. During the three-day conference, participating countries were able to attend meetings focused on the development of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
Delegations from more than 40 countries participated in the forum and travelled to Russia. Of particular note was the participation of the leaders of the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics, Denis Pushilin and Leonid Pasechnick, respectively. Also present were countries such as Kazakhstan, Armenia, Belarus, Egypt, China, Iran, Tajikistan, Syria, Venezuela, Nicaragua, Uruguay, Mexico, Colombia and Belize, among others.
"The U.S., having declared victory in the Cold War, declared itself to messenger of God on Earth, they have no obligations, only interests, which are declared sacred. They don't seem to notice that over the past decades, new powerful centers have emerged," #Putin at #SPIEF pic.twitter.com/BLM4kSisgy
— Mary Ilyushina (@maryilyushina) June 17, 2022
Recent world events have been present during the Russian congress. The war in Ukraine and the negative response from the West has marked the attendance of the participants, but the event was still a success.
Vladimir Putin gave a 72-minute speech in which he spoke about the economic sanctions imposed by the West. According to the Russian president, these sanctions against his nation are a double-edged sword that will cause Western countries to suffer more than Russia itself. Moreover, with his presence, Putin tried to silence the rumours about his state of health that have been spreading since the beginning of the war, although several media have already claimed that this speech was only a pretext to give an unrealistic image of the truth.
