13 February 2019 marked the start day of the Russian Investment Forum, which was attended by around 3,500 participants, guests, and media representatives.
The Healthy Life Forum: Towards 80+ took place for the first time as part of the Russian Investment Forum. The event was organized with the support of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation.
“This forum was the first event organized by the Roscongress Foundation under the Healthcare national project. It plays an important role in tacking social issues, and will lay the foundation for future events covering other national projects,” said Anton Kobyakov, Advisor to the President of the Russian Federation.
The Forum was attended by representatives from 21 countries, including Argentina, Armenia, United Kingdom of Great Britain, Germany, Greece, Italy, Kazakhstan, Canada, China, the Netherlands, Portugal, the Republic of Korea, the Republic of Belarus, Serbia, Slovakia, USA, Ukraine, France, Switzerland, Estonia, Japan.
The President of the Russian Federation, heads of national government bodies, and leaders of non-profit organizations all sent greetings to participants and guests of the Forum. Vladimir Putin particularly underscored the timeliness of the agenda under discussion. “Improving people’s health and raising the quality of life and life expectancy of the older generation is a crucial goal for the entire nation, and a priority for government bodies of every level. It is therefore encouraging to see these topics hold a key position in the agenda of your Forum, which has brought together renowned scientists, doctors, heads of relevant ministries and agencies, experts, and business representatives,” he said in his address.
President of the Foundation for Social and Cultural Initiatives Svetlana Medvedeva also highlighted the importance of the topics covered at the event. “The main topic of the Forum is extending life expectancy, which will not be possible without continuously improving the healthcare system and treatment practices,” she said in her greeting.
Discussions covering 18 topics were held in a series of panel sessions and round tables. The Forum hosted a conference of the Russian Young Endocrinologists Society, and a range of events took place at the Russian Investment Forum’s Case Zone.
The main event, which featured the participation of representatives from relevant government bodies and regional leaders, was the plenary session, entitled “Towards Life Expectancy of 80 Years in Russia: Challenges and Solutions”. Areas of focus included demographic growth, healthcare, and improving quality of life for people in Russia. Speaking at the event, Minister of Healthcare of the Russian Federation Veronika Skvortsova said, “The health of people in our country has become an absolute priority. We must increase life expectancy to 78 by 2024 and 80 by 2030.”
Skvortsova also took part in the award ceremony for the Best Public-Private Partnership Project in Healthcare competition, which took place as part of the Forum.
In addition, the Roscongress Foundation and S-GROUP Corporate Communication Center selected the best teams from the Healthy Life Innovative Solutions Contest to present their projects at SPIEF this coming June. The Federal Agency for Youth Affairs and the Skolkovo Foundation supported the event as organization partners.
Also taking place on 13 February was Young Enterprise Day, which has become a regular fixture at the Russian Investment Forum. The event was organized by the Federal Agency for Youth Affairs (Rosmolodezh) and the Russian Centre for Youth Entrepreneurship.
Young Enterprise Day is a key event for young people at the Russian Investment Forum, and provides them with an extra opportunity to fulfil their ambitions. In being able to meet with other entrepreneurs, mentors, and share experience with colleagues, participants obtain the tools they need to scale up their business. Notably, these young entrepreneurs not only had the opportunity to visit events on the Young Enterprise Day business programme, but were also granted access to the Russian Investment Forum itself, as noted by Head of Rosmolodezh Alexander Bugaev.
The event opened with a networking session, enabling participants to make useful and essential connections, and closed with a panel discussion entitled ‘Developing Young Enterprise in the Context of the National SMEs and Support for Individual Entrepreneurial Initiative Project’. Speaking at the event, Deputy Minister of Economic Development of the Russian Federation Vadim Zhivulin noted that the small business segment is attracting ever more attention. “Today, 19.5 million people work in the SME sector. We have the ambitious objective to increase this figure to 25 million. The Ministry of Economic Development is interested in collaboration in order to achieve this, given that a major national project to develop SMEs cannot exclude young people,” he said.
The numerous panel discussions, thematic tracks, and business games which took place focused on current issues such as supporting the entrepreneurial initiative, attracting investment, fostering a culture of entrepreneurship on Russia, and applying digital technology.
An exhibition of investment projects which had opened at the Main Media Centre in Sochi drew large numbers of Russian Investment Forum participants and guests, and provided them with the opportunity to learn about the investment and economic potential of the Russian regions.
In total, 28 regions and 15 organizations took part in demonstrating the investment opportunities they had to offer. As in previous years, the largest stand belonged to Krasnodar Region, which presented its Smart City concept, involving the digitization of urban spaces. According to Governor of Krasnodar Region Veniamin Kondratyev, the Region’s stand was “the most high-tech one in the history of forums held in Sochi.”
The exhibition area also saw the opening of the Case Zone. This special communication platform provided a space for participants of the Healthy Life Forum: Towards 80+ to present their investment projects and develop their expertise.
Eight agreements were signed on 13 February. Roscongress Foundation Chairman of the Board and CEO Alexander Stuglev signed cooperation agreements with Moscow State University and the Society for the Organization of Healthcare and Public Health. These agreements cement carefully planned and fruitful ties between the organizations, and will greatly expand the areas in which they will collaborate.
The following agreements on cooperation and understanding were signed at the Healthy Life Forum: Towards 80+:
• An agreement on increasing the efficiency of applying PPP mechanisms in healthcare, signed between the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation and the PPP Development Center;
• An agreement to collaborate on fostering the development of small and medium enterprise in healthcare, signed between the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation and OPORA RUSSIA;
• An agreement to improve medical care for patients suffering from inflammatory bowel diseases, oncological diseases, and oncohaematological diseases, signed between the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Tatarstan and TAKEDA PHARMACEUTICALS;
• An agreement to introduce mobile PET/CT units and modular cyclotrons to the Russian healthcare system, signed between Shvabe (part of the Rostec Corporation) and MedInvestGroup;
• An agreement to collaborate on financial education, signed between the Bank of Russia, the Federal Agency for Youth Affairs, and the Association of Volunteer Centres;
• An agreement for Rocor to conduct technical innovation operations at Alabushevo (Moscow Technopolis Special Economic Zone), signed between the City of Moscow’s Investment and Industrial Policy Department, Moscow Technopolis Special Economic Zone, and Rocor.
