Panel Session "Business Diplomacy": from the Trust of People to the trust of economies" - Outcomes

20/06/2022 10:57

On June 3, 2022, the Civil Chamber of the Russian Federation hosted a panel session “Business Diplomacy: from People’s Trust to the Trust of Economies” of the International People’s Diplomacy Forum dedicated to the 5th anniversary of the Eurasian Peoples’ Assembly.

The work of the panel session was opened by the Secretary General of the Eurasian Peoples' Assembly Andrey Belyaninov:

“The Eurasian Peoples' Assembly is the entry point to the world economy. Representatives of different countries take part in our events, it is clear that people need an instrument of people’s diplomacy.”

Within the panel session, there was held the signing of agreements on cooperation between the Eurasian Peoples' Assembly with the Russian National Committee for Black Sea Economic Cooperation and with the Czech-Central Asia Chamber of Commerce.

In his speech, the President of the Russian-Asian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs Vitaly Mankevich outlined the principles of work of the organization he leads, emphasizing the relevance of building relations with Asian countries.

Chairman of the Coordinating Committee for Economic Cooperation with African Countries - AFROCOM Igor Morozov emphasized:

“The work carried out by Andrey Belyaninov and the entire team of the Eurasian Peoples’ Assembly with African countries is extremely important, because we see how rapidly Eurasian ties are developing in Africa. The interaction of business creates the basis for spiritual cooperation and allows the development of business culture and business diplomacy. In Africa, the situation is under the West great pressure. According to the African Union, 237-256 million Africans are in a state of hunger. The mission is to do the maximum possible in the face of sanctions restrictions in logistics and in the payment system so that a catastrophe does not occur in Africa.”

Jiri Nestaval, President of the Czech-Central Asia Chamber of Commerce, noted:

“In my opinion, the time has come for chambers and such respected structures as the Eurasian Peoples’ Assembly, since only such organizations today can solve the problem of international business contacts and promote free international trade.”

Sergey Mayorov, Chairman of the Board of the Machine-Building Cluster of the Republic of Tatarstan, spoke about the role of clusters as an effective model for economic development.

Hani Al-Ahmar, co-founder of the Arab Forum in Moscow, said:

“We are counting on the help and support of the Eurasian Peoples' Assembly, the strengthening of friendly ties, the search for new areas for joint cooperation between Arab and Russian business owners. In the new realities, emphasis should be placed on the need to overcome financial and banking obstacles, motivate Russian banks to open branches in Arab countries, the possibility of signing an agreement on exemption from customs duties and working out direct delivery by sea and air to facilitate export and import operations. Standardization and specification of standards are also important to facilitate trade flows. It is necessary to provide information on the rules and conditions for investing in Russia, and to announce Russia's openness to the business sector in the Arab countries. In the new global conditions, new prospects for the development of Russian-Arab relations are emerging.”

Deputy Head of the Federal Customs Service of Russia Vladimir Ivin focused the attention of the session participants on the information component of business diplomacy:

“Business diplomacy is very important now. For example, even traditional partners such as China are currently showing the variety of trends in terms of supporting business contacts. And if the basis of the economy is large participants, manufacturers, then small and medium-sized businesses are subject to the negative impact of any instability. In this situation, when previously well-established technologies broke down, everyone begins to be cautious and is in great confusion about where to go next. It is very important that within the information environment of business communication in our friendly countries, a panic mood does not prevail. Business diplomacy must change this informational background in order to convince people that the difficulties will pass. No matter how difficult it may be, solutions must be sought in this direction.”

Chairman of the Arctic Council of the Eurasian Peoples' Assembly, Vice-President of the Arctic Public Academy of Sciences, Associate Professor of the North-West Institute of Management of the Russian Academy of National Economy and Public Administration under the President of the Russian Federation, Candidate of Technical Sciences, Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences Marina Minina noted the importance development of the Arctic and spoke in detail about the activities of the Arctic Council in her report.

Alexey Kharlanov, Professor of the Department of World Economy, Master of Law and Political Science of the Diplomatic Academy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia, stated in his speech:

“We do not need a civilized consumer, but an intelligent person who has a subtle sense of the world and is trying to understand subtle structures.”

The right way to achieve this goal is to move to a post-Bologna system. There is a vision that Africa still wants to remain Soviet, pro-Russian, but so far there are no mechanisms for this desire to be realized. There is a potential and a request, if the partner of the Eurasian Peoples' Assembly, the Eurasian Economic Commission, provides maximum assistance in this process, it will be not only effective, but also useful, the scientist believes.

Chairman of the Audit Commission of the Eurasian Peoples’ Assembly Svetozar Darnev emphasized:

“Relationships are key today. Today we return to international barter. The division of the economic bloc into two parts becomes relevant. One is economic consulting; it will form a system of economic relations (the economics of relations, the economics of life, and other foundations). The second is the economics of business, the economics of income.”

At the end of the panel session, the results were summed up: the participants supported the expediency and necessity of maintaining friendly relations and trust between people, as this contributes to the development of business and all other parameters of interaction.