St. Petersburg and the UAE strengthen cooperation in the field of investment and trade and economic cooperation
On October 15, a working meeting dedicated to attracting investments and trade and economic cooperation between St. Petersburg and the United Arab Emirates was held at the Nevsky Town Hall. The round table, organized by the St. Petersburg Investment Committee, was attended by representatives of the business community, the executive bodies of the UAE government and the UAE Embassy in Moscow.
The purpose of the meeting was to discuss promising areas for investing in the economy of St. Petersburg.
The UAE delegation's guests were introduced to the successes of the Northern Capital in the implementation of major infrastructure projects, as well as in the development of industry, tourism, education, science and high technologies by Kristina Sergeeva, Acting Chairman of the St. Petersburg Investment Committee, Kirill Soloveitchik, Chairman of the Committee on Industrial Policy, Innovation and Trade of St. Petersburg, First Deputy Chairman of the Committee for the development of tourism in St. Petersburg, Evgeny Pankevich.
"In the socio-economic development of St. Petersburg, special attention is paid to attracting investments and supporting businesses. Our city is one of the most promising regions for cooperation. All unique investment projects are implemented with the support of Governor Alexander Beglov. A Single Window is a tool for working with investors, which provides organizational and advisory assistance to businesses, accompanying projects at all stages," said Kristina Sergeeva.
She also emphasized that today St. Petersburg is among the top 5 regions of Russia in terms of investment activity and attractiveness for investment, and the volume of agreements signed by St. Petersburg for SPIEF 2024 is the largest among all Russian regions.
As Kirill Soloveitchik noted, St. Petersburg is the largest industrial and innovative center in Russia and, unlike others, develops all well-known industries. The city has one of the most progressive industrial support systems, which includes a wide range of tax and financial measures. The St. Petersburg Industrial Development Fund is the largest in the country. The city is interested in cooperating with investors in such areas as electronics, pharmaceuticals, production of medical devices, biotechnologies, as well as in actively developing areas of design and fashion.
The Assistant to the Deputy Minister of Economy of the UAE, Mr. Abdulrahman Hassan Mohamed Almayeni, in turn, expressed interest in increasing trade turnover with St. Petersburg and cooperation in the mentioned promising industries.
The meeting participants learned about the development of public-private partnership in the Northern Capital and the application of this mechanism in the transport sector, as well as about the growth rates of St. Petersburg and new large–scale urban infrastructure facilities, including Russia's first modern toll highway - the Western High-Speed Diameter, the second largest air hub in terms of passenger traffic - Pulkovo Airport, the world's largest ice SKA Arena hockey stadium, the tallest building in Europe - Lakhta Center. Unique objects that will appear in St. Petersburg in the coming years were also presented - the buildings of the second and third Lakhta centers, the all-season resort St. Petersburg Marina. These projects are designed to make our city even more attractive to visitors and tourists.
Evgeny Pankevich emphasized that St. Petersburg is one of the most developed regions in terms of infrastructure, transport accessibility, quality of service, as well as a creative approach to the formation of a tourist product. The Northern capital was the first to create a tourist information and convention and exhibition bureau, and is currently actively developing all areas of tourism, including medical and event tourism. The dynamics of the annual growth rate of tourist traffic to St. Petersburg is 15-16% and is confidently approaching the pre-pandemic level.
At the same time, St. Petersburg is the main travel hub for receiving guests in the Northwest - arriving in the city on the Neva River, guests can continue their journey to the Leningrad Region, Karelia, Pskov, Novgorod, Murmansk, Arkhangelsk and other regions. The most significant investment projects for the construction of a high-speed Latitudinal Highway and a high-speed railway are designed to strengthen this role of St. Petersburg.
At the end of the meeting, the participants conducted networking and exchanged contacts.