AFP, Saint Petersburg :
Amid sanctions, counter-sanctions, and trade wars, Western firms gathered at the Saint Petersburg economic forum that kicked off Thursday will need to tread nimbly with a Russia keen to attract foreign investment.
The annual event, often called the Russian Davos, used to serve as a window on a booming economy, but over the past five years has been a soap box allowing the Kremlin to let the world know it is open to investors despite tense relations with the West.
This year, French President Emmanuel Macron and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will make an appearance at the three-day event.
This year’s forum comes at a critical moment for Russia, which is just overcoming a recession triggered by US sanctions and a drop in oil prices in 2014.
Putin, who was re-elected in March, has put the development of the economy at the heart his fourth term in office, and aims to catapult the nation into the fifth-largest economy spot, from its current position in 12th place.
Russia will need to boost its growth rate to six percent from year, from the lethargic 1.1 percent it registered last year, to meet that goal, former finance minister Alexei Kudrin said Thursday.
Tens of billions of dollars in investment will be needed, and despite rising oil prices Russia will not be able to muster that without foreign firms and investors.
The head of Russia’s central bank, Elvira Nabiullina, said “direct investments should become one of the main sources of Russian growth” and that the country would need to increase its transparency to to attract foreign capital.
International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde praised Russia for its stable finances and low inflation.
But she noted the rapid growth it had previously enjoyed was gone and that according to the IMF’s estimates was growing at a rate of 1.5 to 1.7 percent.
Lagarde said the low growth was not only due to foreign sanctions or low oil prices, but Russia’s falling population, which means it needs to implement reforms to boost productivity.
During the discussion Finance Minister Anton Siluanov announced that the government would create a fund to spend up to three percent of annual economic into public infrastructure in an effort to boost growth.
Amid sanctions, counter-sanctions, and trade wars, Western firms gathered at the Saint Petersburg economic forum that kicked off Thursday will need to tread nimbly with a Russia keen to attract foreign investment.
The annual event, often called the Russian Davos, used to serve as a window on a booming economy, but over the past five years has been a soap box allowing the Kremlin to let the world know it is open to investors despite tense relations with the West.
This year, French President Emmanuel Macron and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will make an appearance at the three-day event.
This year’s forum comes at a critical moment for Russia, which is just overcoming a recession triggered by US sanctions and a drop in oil prices in 2014.
Putin, who was re-elected in March, has put the development of the economy at the heart his fourth term in office, and aims to catapult the nation into the fifth-largest economy spot, from its current position in 12th place.
Russia will need to boost its growth rate to six percent from year, from the lethargic 1.1 percent it registered last year, to meet that goal, former finance minister Alexei Kudrin said Thursday.
Tens of billions of dollars in investment will be needed, and despite rising oil prices Russia will not be able to muster that without foreign firms and investors.
The head of Russia’s central bank, Elvira Nabiullina, said “direct investments should become one of the main sources of Russian growth” and that the country would need to increase its transparency to to attract foreign capital.
International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde praised Russia for its stable finances and low inflation.
But she noted the rapid growth it had previously enjoyed was gone and that according to the IMF’s estimates was growing at a rate of 1.5 to 1.7 percent.
Lagarde said the low growth was not only due to foreign sanctions or low oil prices, but Russia’s falling population, which means it needs to implement reforms to boost productivity.
During the discussion Finance Minister Anton Siluanov announced that the government would create a fund to spend up to three percent of annual economic into public infrastructure in an effort to boost growth.
