Иванов, Сергей
The Forum was held on June 8–10, 2007. The Forum was a cooperation between two venues – the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum and the World Economic Forum in Davos. It was commemorated by the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the Russian Ministry of Economic Development and the Trade and the World Economic Forum. SPIEF was attended by more than 8,000 people and delegations from 76 countries, including 9 heads of state, 3 prime ministers, representatives of 340 foreign businesses from 65 countries, 37 representatives of the Federation Council of the Russian Federation, 34 representatives of the State Duma, and 149 heads of Russian regions. On June 10, 2007, First Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev delivered a speech at the "Competitive Eurasia – the Space of Trust" panel. The core SPIEF programme consisted of 4 plenary sessions and 14 roundtables. During the Russia-China Trade and Investment Cooperation session, Russia and China signed 18 agreements on investment and trade cooperation totaling over US$1 billion. Among them were agreements on partnership and cooperation between JSC Crocus International and the China Foreign Trade Center, a cooperation agreement and contract between Incom-Auto and Hebei Zhongxing Automobile Plant and the Ural Cars and Motors Company, and others. There were seven more roundtables and nine presentations during which 13 contract signing ceremonies, totaling approximately US$13.5 billion, were held. One of the days of the St. Petersburg Forum was dedicated to the analysis of Russia's economy and its development trends up to 2020. In his speech, First Deputy Prime Minister Sergey Ivanov suggested that by 2020 Russia would become one of the five largest economies in the world. The distinctive feature of the XI Forum was its practical orientation. Exhibitions were among the main events of SPIEF and illustrated the high economic and innovative potential of Russia's regions.