Hold dialogue on economic issues, Russian officials tell West

The three-day St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF 2015) opened here with senior Russian officials calling the West to "enter into a dialogue" for mutual benefit rather than using the dynamics of confrontation.

The Ukraine crisis has overshadowed the conference this year with no business delegation from any Western country attending because of the "annexation of Crimea" by Russia, which has led to confrontation between the United States and the European Union, both of which had imposed economic sanctions on this country.

In his opening remarks, Herman Gref, the CEO and chairman of the Executive Board of Sberbank, said it was time all the parties sat across the table to discuss the major economic issues confronting the world, rather than take action unilaterally on issues. He was referring to the sanctions imposed.

In a message to the forum, President Vladmir Putin said "the massive upheavals of recent years call for coordinated steps from the international community to ensure sustainable long-term development".

He said it was important to become more effective at managing global processes, attract investment in the real economy, step up the development and implementation of breakthrough technologies, establish a fair competitive environment in the international market, and of course, search for ways to better unlock the human potential.

The slogan for this year's event is "Time to act: Shared paths to stability and growth".

Earlier, at a round table on Russia-India investment opportunities, P.S. Raghavan, India's ambassador to Russia, said there was a need to ease the system of long-term business visa to Russia which would help push up investments in both the countries.

Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman did not come for the session, as her Russian counterpart could not be present for reason which was not very clear.

However, Aleksander Tsybulskiy, the deputy minister of economic development who was present, said that following Putin's visit to India last year, there was renewed interest among Russian companies to enter into joint ventures with Indian companies.

Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) president Sumit Mazumdar, who is leading a business delegation here, said states in India now need to take a more active and aggressive role in economic tie-ups.

He said Russian companies should increase their participation in areas such as nuclear energy, renewable energy, oil and gas and defence manufacturing in India, and that Indian companies could look at Russia as a production base.

Many leading Indian companies are part of the business delegation, including the Essar Group, L&T, Exim bank and the Sun Group (Khemkas). This is the ninth year of the CII's presence in SPIEF.