SPIEF-2024: the main thing

The 27th St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF-2024) was held from June 5 to 8. This year it was attended by more than 21 thousand representatives from 139 countries. Over 980 agreements were concluded at the forum for a total amount of 6.4 trillion rubles.

Vladimir Putin spoke at the SPIEF linear session. The President named ten key areas and priorities for Russia's development in the coming years. According to him, the main directions of transformation until the early 2030s are outlined in his message to the Federal Assembly this year.

We have collected the main points from the President’s speech at SPIEF 2024 in our digest.

• Vladimir Putin announced support for non-resource economic exports, the volume of which should grow by at least two-thirds by 2030 compared to 2023. In this regard, the President emphasized that strengthening transport links is required: the development of the Eastern railway range, the North-South corridor and the corridor in the Azov-Black Sea direction.
• By 2030, investment in fixed capital should add 60% in real terms to the level of 2020.

Vladimir Putin, President of the Russian Federation: “In 2021, the investment growth plan was 4.5%, in reality it was 8.6%. In 2022, the plan is 9.5%, in reality - 15.9%. In 2023, the plan was 15.1%, but in reality it turned out to be 27.2%, that is, almost twice as much.”

To achieve this goal, the volume of bank lending for technological sovereignty projects of the Industrial Development Fund will be almost doubled. The President emphasized that the state is ready to share risks with investors.

• By 2030, digital platforms will have to be created in all key sectors of the economy and social sphere. In six years, at least 80% of Russian organizations from the most important sectors of the economy must switch to domestic software. To achieve this, a number of measures are provided to support the IT industry, including a reduced income tax rate of 5% for Russian IT companies, which will be valid until 2030.
• Another important issue voiced by the President is strengthening the role of small and medium-sized businesses in economic development. There are now 6.5 million SMEs in Russia. At the same time, six years ago the goal was set for the number of people employed in this sector to be 25 million, and now this goal has been achieved.