The XII Gaidar Forum "RUSSIA AND THE WORLD AFTER THE PANDEMIC", which for the first time took the expert discussion of global problems of humanity beyond the framework of the post-pandemic recovery, ended in Moscow. According to the participants, it turned out to be impressive both in terms of technical organization and its content. The search for new models of economic growth and the focus on human well-being as the main indicator of future development became the narrative mainstreams of the Forum. Russian President Vladimir Putin in his welcoming speech addressed to the participants of the Gaidar Forum pointed to the relevance of the Forum’s agenda, while Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin made a video address to the participants.
The Gaidar Forum, which opened the new business season, was held in a hybrid format due to the epidemiological situation. More than 400 speakers, including federal ministers, heads of Russian federal subjects, international experts and world-renowned scientists participated in 118 thematic sessions. More than 100 thousand people connected to the livestream which was available on the Forum’s website.
"The experience shows that the Forum held in a “semi-remote” format was effective and even exceeded our expectations. On the one hand, this format allowed to expand the range of discussed topics and to significantly increase the number of participants who are interested in these topics, and on the other hand it gave many speakers an opportunity to actively communicate, especially after the year of the pandemic," said Vladimir Mau, Rector of RANEPA.
The event’s participants stated, though with some caution, that the world was at the post-pandemic breaking point, the situation was stabilizing and even beginning to improve. The key objective of the Forum was to find answers to real challenges posed by the pandemic in the macroeconomics, in the social sphere, in the system of social representations and human values.
The main topics of the Forum were related to the prospects of economic growth, global institutional changes, digital transformation, future of key industries, prospects of "post-covid" development of healthcare systems, megatrends in education and human capital development. A separate block of discussions was devoted to the search for historical analogies and futurological forecasts.
One of the most interesting events of the forum was the expert discussion titled "Hard Talk About Economic Growth" with Elvira Nabiullina, Head of the Bank of Russia, Maxim Reshetnikov, Minister of Economic Development, and Anton Siluanov, Minister of Finance. The financial and economic leaders have demonstrated unity of approach to overcoming the crisis: Russia plans to stick to its traditional fiscal and monetary policy and clearly sees the horizon of normalization of the situation. "This is an extremely important source that inspires strategic and economic optimism," summarized Vladimir Mau, the session’s moderator.
Kristalina Georgieva, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, who attended the Forum, stressed the importance of putting the world economy on a sustainable growth path. Speaking about the future of economic growth, the key speakers also pointed to the quality of that growth: it should be measured in terms of elimination of inequality and increasing well-being of the population rather than by the traditional indicators.
The cross-cutting theme of the Forum was digital transformation. In particular, it was noted that the digital is becoming a new philosophy, it makes socio-political and economic processes more transparent, and allows transforming the system of public administration into a system of services for people.
The Gaidar Forum “Russia and the World After the Pandemic” will be held on January 14 and 15 at the Presidential Academy. The Forum will traditionally open the annual business agenda of Russia. In 2021, this large-scale event will be held in a hybrid format, both online and offline.
This time, the main discussion track will be social and economic transformations that have occurred in the country and the world as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The expert discussions will be focused on the national and global development goals and the search for practical solutions to the most urgent challenges of today. The Forum’s participants include ministers from the Russian Government, members of the Federal Assembly, governors of the Russian regions, largest world experts, representatives of foreign states.
The general partners of the Gaidar Forum are Gazprom PJSC and Gazprombank JSC.
The strategic partners are Russian Railways, Johnson&Johnson, ACIG Group, Novartis.
The partner of the forum is MasterCard, Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF)
The discussion partners are Magnit, Pepsi, Huawei, Coca-Cola, AstraZeneca, Takeda, EY.
General media partners: TASS, Business FM, RIA Novosti, RBC. Strategic media partners: Interfax, Rossiyskaya Gazeta, Kommersant Publishing House, RIA FederalPress, Invest-Foresight magazine. Main media partners: Anews, News.ru, lenta.ru. International media partners: Russia Today.
Media partners: PRO Business TV channel, AEI PRIME, Polit.ru, Strategy magazine, Public Administration magazine, Ekonomika i Zhizn newspaper, Econs portal, Finam, Bankovskoye Obozreniye magazine, Parlamentskaya Gazeta, Snob media project, Echo of Moscow radio station, Nauchno-Obrazovatelnaya Politika Telegram channel.
