Annually, the Eastern Economic Forum (EEF) attracts the attention of thousands of people from all over the world. The EEF hosts hundreds of agreements and significant investment contracts, discuss the most pressing and sensitive economic development issues, from sustainable development to demographic issues
The 2024 Forum, which will be held in September, will be no exception. While it’s July and the forum organisers are keeping the most expected guests of the event a secret, let’s remember what EEF-2023 was memorable for and discuss what to expect from the upcoming forum in September.
Last year, the traditional venue in Vladivostok hosted delegations from 63 countries. Representatives of China, India, Myanmar, the Philippines, Laos and Mongolia stood out, arriving in a record number of delegates for the forum. This interest is undoubtedly due not only to the interesting programme of the Forum, useful contacts and the opportunity to present oneself and one’s business platform, but also to the main KPI of any respectable business forum – the conclusion of contracts. In 2023, 373 agreements with a total value of 3 trillion 818 billion roubles were signed at the EEF, and these are only agreements that are not commercial secrets.
There were no shortage of VIPs at the event.The EEF-2023 events were attended by the Vice President of Laos, Pany Yathothu; the Vice Premier of the State Council of the People’s Republic of China, Zhang Guoqing; the Minister of Transport and Communications of Myanmar, General Mya Tun Oo; and the Deputy Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Development of Mongolia, Khurelbaatar Chimed.
One of the main topics of the forum was the discussion of global challenges of the green agenda. At a time when the rest of the world seems to have forgotten about environmental issues, completely focused on the struggle for its own leadership, the states of the non-Western world continue to show a steady interest in environmental issues. They are not ready to overshadow issues that concern not only current well-being, but also the health and prosperity of future generations. Thus, a number of EEF-2023 events had the specific aim of becoming catalysts for cooperation between BRICS countries in the field of ESG. Alexander Vedyakhin from Sberbank and Ilya Torosov, Deputy Minister of Economic Development of the Russian Federation, shared their practices in implementing ESG strategies. Xiangyu Meng from the Innovation Centre of Tsinghua University shared China’s experience in sustainable development. Ettore Maria Lombardi from the University of Florence spoke about how Brazil is addressing the environmental agenda. Indian guest Ilangovan Angaya spoke about renewable energy, and Percy Morapedi Kodji, President of the Africa Economic Leadership Council, shared Africa’s green practices.
What awaits us this year? What we do know is that the forum will be held from 3 to 6 September at its traditional venue on the campus of the Far Eastern Federal University in Vladivostok. The organisers from Roscongress have not yet revealed the detailed programme of the forum, but it has already been announced that one of the main topics of discussion will be the development of relations in the Asia-Pacific region, the development of the Arctic, and Russian-Chinese relations. It is planned to sign an agreement on the cancellation of the visa regime between Russia and Myanmar.
There is a lot of new information ahead of us. We stay in touch as we look forward to the Eastern Economic Forum 2024 – the business hub of the Far East and the creative platform that the world needs today.
