Today, the 9th Gaidar Forum started at the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration in Moscow, it will last until 18 January. The key theme of the forum - 'Russia and the World: goals and virtues'.
A plenary session will be held on the first day of the forum, it will be addressed by the Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev. The forum will be attended by First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov, Minister of Economic Development Maxim Oreshkin, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov, Minister of Industry and Trade Denis Manturov, Minister of Education and Science Olga Vasilieva, Minister for North Caucasus Affairs Lev Kuznetsov, Minister of Communications and Mass Media Nikolai Nikiforov, Health Minister Veronika Skvortsova, Minister for Open Government Mikhail Abyzov. In addition, it will be attended by the leaders of the regions, leading Russian and international experts, as well as businessmen.
This year, the forum is expected to be attended by 15,400 participants. The program includes the performance of about 650 speakers, including 120 from other countries, TASS reported.
The Gaidar Forum, an annual international economy-related conference and one of Russia’s biggest such events, has been held since 2010. The forum’s organizers are the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA), the Gaidar Institute for Economic Policy (Gaidar Institute) and the Association of Innovative Regions of Russia (AIRR).
Russian President Vladimir Putin has sent a welcome letter to the guests and participants of the Gaidar Forum 2018. The head of state noted that this event, as always, attracts reputable and respected audience, people, who discuss modern topics connected with socio-economic life of Russia, and the trends crucial for the world-wide development, according to the Kremlin website.
"We can observe that today knowledge and competence are gaining more and more importance for leadership, competitiveness and success of companies and states. The ability to develop and rapidly master groundbreaking technologies, to create a wide range of opportunities for each person to realize its potential and talent," the statement reads.
The president stressed that it is understandable that the current Forum concentrates on such topics as education, personnel training, 'digitizing' of life, introduction of government services, which are convenient for people and business.
Putin expressed hope that new original ideas and initiatives demanded for practical purposes will appear during substantive discussions.
The head of the department of stock markets and financial engineering of the Faculty of Finance and the Banking Business of RANEPA, Konstantin Korischenko, speaking with Vestnik Kavkaza, said that the Gaidar Forum has become the traditional start for annual international economic discussions in Russia.
"This is the first major forum of the year, it is always very interesting to discuss here what awaits us in the new year. Second, people are attracted by a range of problems that are raised at the Gaidar Forum, whose program is not limited to economics, it also has social, political, cultural and historical vectors. Third, RANEPA is one of the largest universities in Russia," he said.
"Traditionally, discussions will focus on budgetary issues, which this year are presented primarily in the regional field," Konstantin Korishchenko said.
Professor of the RANEPA faculty of Finance, Money Circulation and Credit, Yuri Yudenkov, in turn, pointed out that the Gaidar Forum is Russia's only open discussion platform of high level."The Moscow forum is less significant, the Sochi investment forum is more expensive and the SPIEF is only for businessmen, and here admission is free," he explained.
"This forum will try to move away from direct economic issues.They will discuss a general development of the human environment, the prospects for this development, there will be discussions concerning important issues of society and people. That is, the 9th forum is of very humanistic approach. Many of its sections are also devoted to business education," Yuri Yudenkov concluded.
