According to experts contacted by Izvestia, the amount of contracts signed during the Eastern Economic Forum this year would be 4-4.5 trillion rubles ($54.51-61.33 billion). They observed that the sixth conference changed the topic and moved the emphasis from the growth of the Asia-Pacific region to global issues. According to analysts, a reform of the current paradigm of international commerce and logistics is not far off.
The next event’s main theme will be the Far East’s potential in a changing world. Participants plan to debate the Greater Eurasian Partnership and have business meetings with leaders from Russia, ASEAN, South Korea, Japan, China, India, and Europe. The forum’s main event will be the plenary session, which will be place on September 3 and will include Russian President Vladimir Putin. Delegates from more than 60 nations will attend EEF 2021. However, the number of participants will more than half, with 4,000 individuals compared to 8,500 in 2019.
According to Dmitry Babin, a market analyst at Russian brokerage BCS Investments, the pandemic will become one of the forum’s key themes since new strains of coronavirus threaten to make this problem chronic on a worldwide scale. Against this backdrop, he thinks that the current model of international commerce and logistics will need to be changed, as supply chains suffer, creating disruptions in production and periodic downtime for many businesses.
According to Evgeny Vinokurov, Chief Economist of the Eurasian Development Bank, the number of deals signed at the conference this year will be more than 4 trillion rubles ($54.51 billion) amid a post-crisis rebound in investment activity.
The number of contracts signed within the scope of the forum may set a new record, according to Gennady Salych, Chairman of the Board of Freedom Finance Bank. The event, according to the analyst, is crucial for the growth of Russia’s export potential, which has promising possibilities in the present global environment.
