7th Annual Russian Economic Forum
The Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre, London, 18-20 April 2004
On Monday and Tuesday 19 and 20 April 2004, the international finance and business community emphatically acknowledged Russia's status as a key player in the global economy, when over 1800 delegates gathered for the 7th Annual Russian Economic Forum at The Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre in London.
Lord Browne of BP, Supachai Panitchpakdi of the WTO, Digby Jones of CBI, Rod Eddington of British Airways, Clara Furse of the London Stock Exchange, Frank Dunn of Nortel and Roger Munnings of KPMG led a powerful lineup of international opinion formers for the morning plenaries.
In her plenary address, UK Trade and Industry Secretary Patricia Hewitt confirmed Russia's new importance, urging British companies to "to grasp the opportunities of a more prosperous, stable and outward looking Russia, and to grasp them today because they will be lost tomorrow. Russia shows every sign of being the next China. I want Britain to have seats on the plane before it takes off." Lord Browne echoed her optimism, announcing that BP anticipated investing a further $3-4 billion over the next five years in addition to the $8 billion it had already put into Russia.
The Russian Government was represented by the two architects of its highly successful fiscal reform programme: Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Zhukov, making his first international appearance since his appointment in March, and Aleksei Kudrin, the well respected Minister of Finance.
They were joined by Anatoly Chubais, CEO of RAO UES of Russia, Victor Vekselberg, Chief Operating Officer and a major shareholder in TNK-BP, Andrei Kostin, Chairman and CEO of Vneshtorgbank, Alexander Mordashov, Chairman of Severstal-Group, and many other influential figures from Russian business, politics and media.
Participants had a rare opportunity to explore Russia's development from a variety of points of view. An in-depth agenda of 25 plenary and "breakout" sessions featured over 140 speakers, from Government Ministers, oil and gas executives and bankers to internet gurus, journalists, and film directors. Panels covered sector-specific topics such as energy, telecoms, and real estate, but also more conceptual themes, including the relationship between government and business, and the role of media in society.
The 2004 Forum was attended by over 200 journalists and received unprecedented press and TV exposure both inside and outside of Russia. BBC TV, CNN, Bloomberg TV, The Times, The Independent and many other media outlets covered the event.
