The
conference ‘100 Steps to a Sound Investment Climate’ was held in Moscow. The
conference was attended by representatives of government agencies, the business
community as well as public organization leaders. The event was organized by
the Agency for Strategic Initiatives and Russian News Agency TASS.
The annual
conference consisted of several discussion platforms that focused on some of
the most pressing economic issues. One such platform was the session ‘Russian
Hi-Tech Products, Best Practices, and Solutions’. During the session,
Roscongress Foundation IT Directorate Head Igor Ognev presented the ‘Window of Opportunity’,
a project that provides event participants with a unified personal account that
serves as an effective tool to build communications between representatives of
domestic and foreign business.
«Starting from 2020, we will offer
participants in all the Foundation’s events a unified digital space based on
the Unified personal web office that will provide a wide range of opportunities
such as registration for events, a system for scheduling meetings both at
events and outside of them, chats with project participants, access to
analytical materials, standard services for events as well as services that are
still being designed, for example, the trade house of the Roscongress
Foundation», Ognev said.
On 4 December, participants in the Russian
Investment Forum in Sochi were granted access to the Unified personal web
office. The next step is to provide access to participants in the St. Petersburg
International Economic Forum as well as guests of the Russian House in Davos,
which will open in January 2020 during the World Economic Forum.
The session was moderated by Anton
Moskalenkov, Director of the International Relations Office at the Agency for
Strategic Initiatives.
«The Agency for Strategic Initiatives, along with the Russian Export
Center, the VEB.RF Group, and the WorldSkills Russia Union, plans to create a
service to promote the best Russian practices and technologies abroad. To a
lesser extent, this concerns the export of goods. We are focusing on solutions,
technologies, and developments», Moskalenkov said.
Global Venture Alliance CEO and Partner Zamir Shukhov spoke about the
prospects for Russian startups abroad. Russian Export Center Managing Director
Anna Belyaeva underscored the need for strategies to build relations with
foreign partners in her speech. Union of Young Professionals (WorldSkills
Russia) General Director Robert Urazov focused on professional competitions as
an effective tool for training and the assimilation of foreign experience in
his presentation.
Keynote speakers at the conference’s plenary
session included Russian Presidential Aide Andrey Belousov, President of the
OPORA Russia All-Russian Non-Governmental Organization of Small and Medium
Business Alexander Kalinin, Business Russia Chairman and Chairman of the Board
of Directors of the R-Pharm Group Alexey Repik, and Chairman of the VEB.RF State
Development Corporation Igor Shuvalov.
«In order to
create a sound investment climate, we need to find a solution to several key
issues. First, supervisory and law enforcement agencies, financial
institutions, and banks must learn how to work with risks. We also spoke today
about the decriminalization of business protection. We need a clear system of
control by law enforcement agencies for this. The agenda included the implementation
of a law on the protection and promotion of investments in which priority
should be given to investment mechanisms. Economic development is impossible
without a balance in the policies of the federal centre, the regions, and
municipalities. One of the most effective growth tools is am accelerator for
small and medium-sized businesses. It is also essential to introduce digital
systems to regulate the economic situation. Overcoming personnel mismatches and
training highly qualified specialists, new forms of responsibility and the
social role of entrepreneurship, rethinking competition in the context of
modern digital business, and companies entering [markets]. We will face such
goals and objectives that focus on the new economy at the global level in the
coming years», Belousov said.
«Today’s conference is not a
platform for taking stock. On the contrary, it is a platform for setting goals
for the next year and near future», Agency for Strategic Initiatives General
Director Svetlana Chupsheva said. «I would like to highlight two points in
particular. Continuing work that aims to improve the Doing Business rating
indicators, the availability of procurements, and staff training are our
potential growth points and competitive advantages that can ensure our country joins
the top ten. Another important point is updating the rules and tools for doing
business and doing away with outdated models in favour of new technologies. Together
with the business community, we face the task of drafting a certain set of
rules that will create a specific horizon and a direction for our work».
