The participation of business houses from the Sultanate of Oman in the St Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) can open new business opportunities for them, according to Alexander Stuglev, CEO of Rosscongress, organiser of St Petersburg International Economic Forum.
The St Petersburg International Economic Forum takes place in Russia from June 14 to 17 and will focus on key issues of the global economic agenda.
Rosscongress a socially oriented non-financial development institution and a major organiser of nationwide and international conventions. SPIEF is an annual event held under the auspice of the president of the Russian Federation.
The team from Rosscongress visited Muscat recently to invite the business people to the event.
Speaking to the Observer at Sheraton Oman prior to meeting the business representatives, Alexander Stuglev said that the main goal of SPIEF 23 is to develop economic relations between Russia and many other countries.
“We have had more than 15,000 participants from over 130 countries. Aside from this, we also provide an opportunity for those participants to develop economic relations with each other. We have a platform called B2B Networking where we assign meetings beforehand with delegations and representatives between different business sectors where they can have a dialogue and reach an agreement,” said Stuglev.
It is the 25th edition of St Petersburg International Economic Forum and there have been shifts in the world economy.
Regarding benefits for business people from the Sultanate of Oman attending the economic forum, Stuglev said that they see a window of opportunity opening for many investors, including from Oman, because the economic trend has shifted in recent years.
“We are seeing Western and European businesses leaving the Russian market, and we are seeing many other businesses from countries like China, India and the Middle Eastern countries competing for the space left behind by the West and Europe,” he said.
“On the other hand, the compass of Russian investment outside the country has changed. The investments that went to the west have shifted to South East Asia, Middle Eastern and some of the Arab countries,” he pointed out.
“We are seeing this window of business opportunities where we can build and further develop our economic relations,” he noted.
As Oman focuses on logistics as one of the main elements of the country’s economic vision for 2040, trade could also be an area of development between the two nations keeping in mind the strategic location.
Stuglev said that when it comes to trade, Russia is looking for trustworthy partners in the region for many sectors, and logistics is one of them.
“Oman, without a doubt, can be a leader in the sector,” he said.
According to him, there has been substantial growth between Oman and Russia in the areas of agriculture, heavy metals, wood export.
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