MOSCOW – From January 16 to 18, the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA) in Moscow hosted the Ninth Gaidar Forum, this year’s first major international expert conference on the global economy. The event annually gathers Russian and foreign experts, leading international academics and practitioners. Its speakers include politicians, economists, and representatives of financial and business elites.
The discussions focus on important current problems and most important issues in the social and economic sphere. The Forum was established in 2010 in tribute to the memory of outstanding Russian economist Yegor Gaidar and is traditionally supported by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev. Participation is open to anyone who has influence on the global world order through their advanced achievements in economics.
The following prominent experts spoke at the forum in different years: President of the European Central Bank (2003-2011), Chairman of the Group of Thirty, Jean-Claude Trichet; Regius Professor of Economics at the London School of Economics and Political Science, Nobel Prize winner in Economics, Christopher Pissarides; Professor at Yale University, one of the world’s leading sociologists, Immanuel Wallerstein; President of Greece, Prokopis Pavlopoulos; Minister of State (Prime Minister) of the Principality of Monaco, Michel Roger; Secretary-General of OECD, Angel Gurria; President of the Czech Republic (2003 – 2013) Vaclav Klaus; Danone CEO Emmanuel Faber, and many others.
This year’s highlight was Russia and the World: Values and Virtues. The participants discussed the drivers of innovation development, digital society, business opportunities, cluster approach in the age of digital economy, public administration, tax policy, and healthcare. The program included discussions and sessions on the most acute problems of the new reality: Europe after Brexit, attracting investments under sanctions, global energy market under new conditions, environmental protection and many more.
The key event of the forum, the Values and Virtues plenary discussion, was attended by the Russian Prime Minister, Dmitry Medvedev, who talked about the top challenges of our time: the increasing inequality – uneven incomes, uneven territorial development; the risk of an artificial technological gap growing between the world’s regions; and ensuring security in the digital space.
RANEPA Rector Vladimir Mau moderated the discussion.
The plenary session participants included Chief Executive Officer of the World Bank Kristalina Georgieva; Chairman of JP Morgan Chase International, former Chairman of the Bank of Israel (1991-2000), and member of RANEPA International Advisory Board Jacob Frenkel; political analyst, Chairman of the Center for Liberal Strategies in Sofia, Permanent Fellow with the Institute for Human Sciences in Vienna Ivan Krastev; President of the European Policy Center, President Emeritus of the European Council (2009-2014), former Prime Minister of Belgium (2008-2009) Herman Van Rompuy; and Minister for Foreign Trade and Development of Finland, Kai Mykkanen.
The Ninth Gaidar Forum featured a presentation of the National Report on the Development of High-Tech Business in Russian Regions; experts discussed the growth of the regional economies and welfare, the effectiveness of companies’ investments in new projects, technological changes, and human capital.
AACSB President Tom Robinson, IMD President Jean-François Manzoni and RANEPA Vice-Rector Sergei Myasoyedovidentified the main trends in business education in the future during the Business School Model for the 21st Century Leaders session.
The forum participants also discussed the Russian-French cooperation through civil societies as part of the Trianon dialogue program. Of great interest was the open lecture, Artificial Intelligence – a Challenge for Mankind.
This year’s forum convened more than 15,000 participants and 1,750 journalists. It is one of the most quoted economic conferences in Russia. The Financial Times included the forum in the top five world business events. The Gaidar Forum was recognized as the business event of the year and won The Moscow Times Award in 2013.
