The Business 20 (B20) – Russia Business Dialogue took place on 7 September. The dialogue was titled “The contribution of global governance institutions to post-crisis development.”
Excerpts from the transcript:
Alexei Overchuk: Colleagues,
On behalf of the Government, I would like to welcome
the participants of the Business 20 (B20) – Russia Business Dialogue, in
particular, Chair of the B20 Emma Marcegaglia, Representative of the President
of the Russian Federation in the G20 (Russia’s G20 Sherpa)
Svetlana Lukash and President of
the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs Alexander Shokhin, and
all colleagues present here.
I had a chance to speak at a traditional B20 Regional
Consultation Forum hosted by the Russian Union of Industrialists and
Entrepreneurs and the B20 Chair, at the St Petersburg International Economic
Forum this year. It focused on issues such as energy and resource efficiency,
trade and investment, and education and employment. Today’s event is its
logical continuation.
Of course, financing and infrastructure, digital
transformation, healthcare and natural sciences are also among the priorities
of our country’s cooperation with international partners. The importance of
formats such as today’s dialogue for raising the awareness of Russian and
Eurasian authorities and the public about the progress of work, priorities and
recommendations of the B20 cannot be overestimated. In this regard, I would
like to express support for the work of my colleagues from the Russian Union of
Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, who, alongside the B20 Chair, regularly hold
such events.
International multilateral cooperation is a necessary
mechanism for maintaining the sustainable development of the global economy and
national economies.
The multilateral formats of cooperation make it
possible to develop comprehensive and mutually acceptable decisions on key
international matters, thus significantly reducing transaction costs for their
participants.
The Russian Federation is a member of many key
multilateral institutions of international economic cooperation, including the
EAEU, the WTO, the EEC and the UN. We strive to actively engage with the UN, and,
of course, the G20.
Today, the G20 is one of the most influential
multilateral institutions of international cooperation uniting leading
economies, on the platforms of which decisions on the most important
international issues are being developed.
At the same time, interaction groups, the key of which
is B20, not only contribute to the cooperation processes as a source of
expertise, but also contribute to understanding and public support for the G20
decisions as they promote the comprehensive, inclusive and synergistic
interaction in various areas of international cooperation.
An important and notable aspect of the G20’s
activities is the desire to reflect the national specifics and development goals
in the implementation of the decisions. The one-size-fits-all approach has
repeatedly proved its ineffectiveness. For this reason, the adaptive and
flexible nature of the proposed B20 solutions makes it possible to
significantly improve efficiency when implementing them in practice.
Many B20 recommendations are based on a multisectoral
approach, addressing not only individual target groups, but system-wide issues
as well, thus contributing to building a holistic picture of cooperation
I cannot but note that cooperation within the G20 and interaction
groups impacts Eurasian integration as well. I believe it is promising to use
in Eurasian economic integration the key recommendations and approaches to
development that are put forward within the G20 framework.
The agenda of our work at the G20 and EAEU
institutions is closely interconnected. In December 2020, the leaders of the
EAEU countries adopted the Strategic Areas for Eurasian Economic Integration to
2025. An action plan for their implementation was approved in April. Many areas
of cooperation in these documents directly intersect with areas of interaction
within the G20 and B20.
Key intersections in relation to the agenda that is
being discussed today include areas of the EAEU’s work such as creating the
digital space of the union, digital infrastructure and ecosystems; building an
effective system for managing joint cooperation projects and financing them;
creating and developing highly productive economic sectors; developing and
implementing major infrastructure projects; developing flexible mechanisms for
targeted assistance to economic development; developing economic cooperation in
the field of healthcare; and much more.
It is important for us that Russian business,
coordinated by the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, is
actively working in the B20. I’m sure that many ideas and business proposals
will be further developed in the G20 documents and the corresponding
obligations of its participants. In this regard, I would like to thank the
Italian side for organising high-quality work and the opportunity to get
acquainted with the recommendations before the summit. For the Russian
Government, this is very important, since we will be implementing the decisions
adopted at the G20 leaders’ summit.
Thank you.
