Vladimir Putin attended a plenary meeting of the St Petersburg International Economic Forum.
June 2, 2017
17:10
St Petersburg
Other participants in the session included Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi, Federal Chancellor of Austria Christian Kern and President of Moldova Igor Dodon.
The annual St Petersburg International Economic Forum first convened in 1997 to discuss key issues of economic development in Russia, the emerging economies and the world at large. The slogan this year is Achieving a New Balance in the Global Economic Arena.
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Excerpts from transcript of the plenary meeting of the St Petersburg International Economic Forum
Panel moderator, NBC host Megyn Kelly: Welcome, everyone. Thank you so much for being here. I’m Megyn Kelly. And welcome to the St Petersburg International Economic Forum. Welcome to our distinguished guests, to our host President Putin, and to all of you. Thank you for taking the time to be here with us today. Yes, yes, how about it for our host and our guests (Applause).
We’ve been in St Petersburg for a few days and understand that this is an important place, a personal place to President Putin. And now we understand why. It’s incredibly beautiful. The gorgeous rivers, romantic bridges, the beautiful weather (Laughter). And most of all the lovely people who have given us such a warm welcome and – I’ll tell you, just in our few days here – have made us feel like we have far more in common than we do apart. And so, the world leaders need to figure out the differences, but I think the people feel bonded in a lovely way (Applause).
So today we’re going to have some opening remarks, and then we’ll get into some questions and hopefully mix it up a little bit. And with that, I turn it over to our host, Russian President Vladimir Putin (Applause).
President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Ladies and gentlemen, friends,
It is a pleasure to welcome the participants of the 21st St Petersburg International Economic Forum, including directors of international organisations, heads of state, government representatives and business leaders from dozens of countries.
We appreciate your interest in Russia and the dialogue that is aimed at developing partnership. We are open to cooperation, mutually beneficial projects and working together to find solutions to the vital, strategic issues of global development.
